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OSCAR RICHARDS DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 6200703 · 1 · GUNNISON RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 19:51 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 1927-03-30 — 498th 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: BOWERS SPRING NO 1 (1926-04-17). Immediately behind: SIGNAL HILL RES (1927-04-01).
Decreed rights (2)
| 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. | Units | UsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on. | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28212.0 | 1927-03-30 | 1941-04-21 | 6.3 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 314 |
| 29308.0 | 1930-03-30 | 1941-04-21 | 2.95 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 318 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 2,337 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 1,426 AF — 61% of that, and 1st lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.
| Year | Diverted (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 record | Days recorded | Peak (cfs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2,833 | 15th lowest of 15 · 121% of median | 160 | 13.4 |
| 2012 | 2,793 | 14th lowest of 15 · 120% of median | 153 | 11.0 |
| 2013 | 2,317 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 168 | 9.0 |
| 2014 | 2,339 | 9th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 163 | 10.0 |
| 2015 | 2,424 | 11th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 160 | 10.0 |
| 2016 | 2,642 | 13th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 159 | 11.0 |
| 2017 | 2,310 | 6th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 159 | 12.0 |
| 2018 | 1,559 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 67% of median | 182 | 5.0 |
| 2019 | 2,375 | 10th lowest of 15 · 102% of median | 148 | 12.0 |
| 2020 | 2,337 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 190 | 9.0 |
| 2021 | 1,876 | 5th lowest of 15 · 80% of median | 174 | 8.0 |
| 2022 | 2,473 | 12th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | 163 | 10.5 |
| 2023 | 1,624 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 70% of median | 147 | 9.0 |
| 2024 | 1,856 | 4th lowest of 15 · 79% of median | 182 | 7.0 |
| 2025 | 1,426 | 1st lowest of 15 · 61% of median | 170 | 5.5 |
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.