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HENDERSON SMITH DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 6400525 · 1 · SOUTH PLATTE RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:04 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
Location as DWR records it. Faint dots are the neighbouring water; click any to open it.
Which of its rights are out of priority?
Not computable for this structure: this structure is not on the modelled flow network, so no reference gage can honestly stand in for it.
Where it sits in line
Priority 1873-07-15 — 13th most senior of the 2052 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: LEBSACK FEED W 2-R5946-R (1873-04-10). Immediately behind: STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 (1873-07-15).
Decreed rights (10)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8597.0 | 1873-07-15 | 1894-11-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 8661.0 | 1873-09-17 | 1894-11-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 11292.0 | 1880-11-30 | 1894-11-15 | 12.5 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUN | |
| 11861.0 | 1882-06-22 | 1894-11-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 12577.0 | 1884-06-07 | 1894-11-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 13349.0 | 1886-07-19 | 1894-11-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 22059.0 | 1910-05-25 | 1914-01-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 23172.1904 | 1902-02-17 | 1928-07-05 | 24.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 31423.29219 | 1929-12-31 | 1965-10-18 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISFIRDOMAUGPWR | |
| 54237.0 | 1998-06-30 | 1998-12-31 | 0.0 | 35.0 | C | MUNRCH |
Legal record & documents
40 decreed actions on record across
5 court cases:
98CW0450, 09CW0269, 00CW0253, CA0944, CA0304.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
98CW0450 | 14 | 1998-12-31 | S |
09CW0269 | 13 | 1998-12-31 | S |
00CW0253 | 11 | 1965-10-18 | O, S |
CA0944 | 1 | 1928-07-05 | S |
CA0304 | 1 | 1894-11-15 | O |
DWR's own records for this structure: net amounts · transactions & adjudication history · scanned decrees (search a case number there for the imaged document). On this site: the district's full legal picture →
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 2,544 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 2,688 AF — 106% of that, and 11th lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.
This structure records both diversions and reservoir releases — they are separate water movements and are accounted separately below.
| 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 | Released (AF) | Days recorded | Peak (cfs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,872 | 12th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | — | 307 | 38.4 |
| 2011 | 1,226 | 1st lowest of 15 · 48% of median | — | 124 | 26.0 |
| 2012 | 2,380 | 5th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | — | 168 | 13.3 |
| 2013 | 2,212 | 4th lowest of 15 · 87% of median | — | 148 | 12.3 |
| 2014 | 2,606 | 10th lowest of 15 · 102% of median | — | 209 | 20.8 |
| 2015 | 4,686 | 15th lowest of 15 · 184% of median | — | 241 | 58.7 |
| 2016 | 4,062 | 14th lowest of 15 · 160% of median | — | 258 | 17.2 |
| 2017 | 2,544 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | — | 121 | 54.9 |
| 2018 | 1,648 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 65% of median | — | 177 | 7.6 |
| 2019 | 2,494 | 7th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | — | 138 | 14.5 |
| 2020 | 3,475 | 13th lowest of 15 · 137% of median | — | 231 | 13.2 |
| 2021 | 2,025 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 80% of median | — | 177 | 11.5 |
| 2022 | 2,456 | 6th lowest of 15 · 96% of median | — | 193 | 12.7 |
| 2023 | 2,605 | 9th lowest of 15 · 102% of median | — | 210 | 15.8 |
| 2024 | 2,688 | 11th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | — | 189 | 12.9 |
Trends for this structure
Recorded use shows no clear trend over its last 15 recorded years — which is itself worth knowing.
How good is our record of it?
Grade B (8/10 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not.
The rubric, component by component
| Check | State | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| identity | complete | name, type, and water source all on file |
| decreed rights | on file | 10 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 10317 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | patchy | 65% of the irrigation seasons in 1950-2024 carry measured days |
| published-record stability | stable | no upstream revisions recorded against this structure |
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.