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WATSON CREEK DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 5800921 · 1 · WATSON CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 19:16 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (a1c9146) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.

Where it sits in line

Priority 1883-06-14 — 6th most senior of the 3097 structures with decreed rights in this water districtDWR's administrative subdivision of a river basin; the unit calls are usually stated in..

Under prior appropriationColorado's rule for sharing water: first in time, first in right. Age decides, not proximity or need., everything ahead of it in this line is satisfied in full before it receives any water. Immediately ahead: PENNSYLVANIA DITCH (1883-06-06). Immediately behind: BIRD DITCH (1883-06-28).

Decreed rights (1)

Admin noDWR's numeric encoding of a water right's seniority. Smaller is more senior; the integer part counts days from 1849-12-31 to the date that ranks the right. AppropriatedWhen water was first put to beneficial use. It sets seniority unless a prior adjudication date is later. AdjudicatedWhen the water court confirmed the right. A use decreed in 1975 was not a decreed use in 1955, however old the appropriation is. AbsoluteA right actually put to use, as opposed to conditional -- a placeholder for a use not yet made. ConditionalA right reserving a place in line for a use not yet made; it must be diligently pursued or it lapses. UnitsUsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
12218.01883-06-141892-09-22 0.750.0 CIRR 3

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 131 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 207 AF — 158% of that, and 12th lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.

YearDiverted (AFA volume: one acre covered a foot deep, about 326,000 gallons -- roughly a suburban household's outdoor use for a year.)Compared with its own recordDays recordedPeak (cfs)
2009 91 4th lowest of 15 · 70% of median 48 1.0
2010 181 11th lowest of 15 · 138% of median 62 1.5
2011 87 3rd lowest of 15 · 66% of median 45 1.0
2012 118 6th lowest of 15 · 90% of median 80 0.8
2013 145 9th lowest of 15 · 111% of median 74 1.0
2014 70 1st lowest of 15 · 53% of median 48 0.8
2015 119 7th lowest of 15 · 91% of median 31 2.0
2016 83 2nd lowest of 15 · 63% of median 57 0.8
2019 131 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 35 2.0
2020 217 13th lowest of 15 · 166% of median 59 2.1
2021 175 10th lowest of 15 · 134% of median 74 1.5
2022 91 4th lowest of 15 · 70% of median 29 1.8
2023 347 15th lowest of 15 · 265% of median 66 3.7
2024 320 14th lowest of 15 · 244% of median 128 2.4
2025 207 12th lowest of 15 · 158% of median 50 2.2

Advisory reading aid on public data — not an administrative or legal conclusion, not a title opinion, and not a substitute for DWR administration or an engineer's analysis. Methodology review status is disclosed at hydrohistorian's basin pages.