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SMITH DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 5900676 · 1 · CARBON CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 19:53 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (2deb1d7) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.

Where it sits in line

Priority 1885-05-20 — 111th most senior of the 2360 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: PRICE CREEK DITCH NO 2 (1885-04-30). Immediately behind: OWENS CREEK DITCH (1885-05-20).

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
12924.01885-05-201906-09-14 2.00.0 CIRR 53

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 257 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 380 AF — 148% of that, and 10th 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)
2011 693 15th lowest of 15 · 270% of median 119 6.2
2012 254 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median 154 1.7
2013 402 11th lowest of 15 · 156% of median 158 2.6
2014 293 9th lowest of 15 · 114% of median 157 2.4
2015 139 1st lowest of 15 · 54% of median 136 0.9
2016 434 13th lowest of 15 · 169% of median 100 5.1
2017 203 4th lowest of 15 · 79% of median 92 2.2
2018 166 2nd lowest of 15 · 65% of median 196 1.1
2019 240 6th lowest of 15 · 93% of median 168 1.1
2020 199 3rd lowest of 15 · 77% of median 170 0.9
2021 257 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 136 1.4
2022 422 12th lowest of 15 · 164% of median 169 2.6
2023 211 5th lowest of 15 · 82% of median 115 1.9
2024 608 14th lowest of 15 · 237% of median 190 3.4
2025 380 10th lowest of 15 · 148% of median 172 2.6

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.