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JOHN MARTIN RESERVOIR
Structure dossier · WDID 6703512 · 3 · ARKANSAS RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:20 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 1871-03-13 — 1st most senior of the 2116 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 behind: LAMAR CANAL (1875-11-30).
Decreed rights (13)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7742.0 | 1871-03-13 | 1895-07-01 | 9.0 | 0.0 | C | STOAUG | 1 |
| 12418.0 | 1883-12-31 | 1895-07-01 | 4.5 | 0.0 | C | STOAUG | 4 |
| 12524.0 | 1884-04-15 | 1905-04-08 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | 4 |
| 13574.0 | 1887-03-01 | 1905-04-08 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | 6 |
| 15949.0 | 1893-08-31 | 1905-04-08 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | 25 |
| 20186.17015 | 1896-08-01 | 1927-02-03 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | STOIRRCOMINDFIRDOMAUGPWRRCH | R6 |
| 20186.18489 | 1900-08-15 | 1928-11-08 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | RECFISWLD | R10 |
| 20478.0 | 1906-01-25 | 1928-11-08 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | RECFISWLD | R24.5, R27 |
| 21347.0 | 1908-06-12 | 1928-11-08 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | RECFISWLD | R37 |
| 21609.0 | 1909-03-01 | 1922-08-30 | 34.47 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 120 |
| 21857.15952 | 1893-09-03 | 1918-10-14 | 15.0 | 0.0 | C | STOAUG | 1918-4 |
| 25123.23848 | 1915-04-18 | 1922-06-03 | 13425.0 | 0.0 | A | RECFIS | 461/2 |
| 36310.0 | 1949-05-31 | 1949-12-31 | 343960.0 | 0.0 | A | IRREXS |
Legal record & documents
22 decreed actions on record across
12 court cases:
12/14/1948, 79CW0161, 79CW0160, 89CW0076, 80CW0051, 80CW0019, 07CW0074, 02CW0181, W4605, CA1434 and 2 more below.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
12/14/1948 | 1 | 1949-12-31 | O |
79CW0161 | 1 | 1928-11-08 | S |
79CW0160 | 3 | 1928-11-08 | S |
89CW0076 | 1 | 1927-02-03 | S |
80CW0051 | 1 | 1927-02-03 | S |
80CW0019 | 1 | 1927-02-03 | S |
07CW0074 | 2 | 1927-02-03 | S |
02CW0181 | 4 | 1922-08-30 | O, S |
W4605 | 1 | 1922-06-03 | S |
CA1434 | 1 | 1922-06-03 | S |
05CW0052 | 3 | 1918-10-14 | O, S |
79CW0178 | 3 | 1905-04-08 | 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 75,427 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 60,676 AF — 80% of that, and 6th lowest of the 13 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | — | no recorded volume | 34,416 | 0 | — |
| 2012 | 1,183 | 1st lowest of 13 · 2% of median | 23,550 | 212 | 10.1 |
| 2013 | — | no recorded volume | 22,065 | 0 | — |
| 2014 | 2,218 | 2nd lowest of 13 · 3% of median | 35,251 | 190 | 10.4 |
| 2015 | 19,025 | 4th lowest of 13 · 25% of median | 219,919 | 54 | 462.0 |
| 2016 | 84,606 | 9th lowest of 13 · 112% of median | 119,947 | 366 | 810.6 |
| 2017 | 367,419 | 13th lowest of 13 · 487% of median | 225,636 | 365 | 6030.2 |
| 2018 | 95,252 | 10th lowest of 13 · 126% of median | 170,030 | 365 | 1608.8 |
| 2019 | 96,930 | 11th lowest of 13 · 128% of median | 140,120 | 304 | 1171.8 |
| 2020 | 9,748 | 3rd lowest of 13 · 13% of median | 8,110 | 275 | 191.0 |
| 2021 | 75,427 | 7th lowest of 13 · 100% of median | 77,685 | 364 | 2084.4 |
| 2022 | 37,828 | 5th lowest of 13 · 50% of median | 22,988 | 365 | 263.4 |
| 2023 | 133,386 | 12th lowest of 13 · 177% of median | 100,052 | 365 | 2826.1 |
| 2024 | 83,663 | 8th lowest of 13 · 111% of median | 62,739 | 366 | 1182.2 |
| 2025 | 60,676 | 6th lowest of 13 · 80% of median | 64,094 | 304 | 716.0 |
Trends for this structure
Recorded use shows no clear trend over its last 13 recorded years — which is itself worth knowing.
How good is our record of it?
Grade B (7/10 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 | 13 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 3895 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | sparse | 26% of the irrigation seasons in 1956-2025 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.