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FRENCH DITCH NO 1

Structure dossier · WDID 6200607 · 1 · LAKE FORK · 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 (2deb1d7) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.

Where it sits in line

Priority 1959-05-01 — 607th most senior of the 1980 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: MCJUNKIN #2 DITCH (1959-01-15). Immediately behind: HOWARD WELL (1959-10-01).

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
39932.01959-05-011960-03-30 1.00.0 CIRR 459

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 237 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 0 AF — 0% of that, and 1st 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 237 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 172 1.6
2010 413 12th lowest of 15 · 174% of median 179 1.6
2011 361 11th lowest of 15 · 152% of median 168 1.7
2012 424 14th lowest of 15 · 179% of median 185 1.9
2013 422 13th lowest of 15 · 178% of median 160 2.1
2014 265 9th lowest of 15 · 112% of median 148 1.7
2015 541 15th lowest of 15 · 228% of median 149 2.2
2017 271 10th lowest of 15 · 114% of median 115 1.5
2018 184 7th lowest of 15 · 78% of median 106 1.2
2019 30 3rd lowest of 15 · 13% of median 52 0.5
2020 166 6th lowest of 15 · 70% of median 154 1.1
2021 114 5th lowest of 15 · 48% of median 130 1.4
2022 82 4th lowest of 15 · 35% of median 124 0.5
2023 0 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median 7 0.0
2025 0 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median 6 0.0

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.