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OWL CREEK DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 6800683 · 1 · COW CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 20:32 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.
Which of its rights get called out?
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 1884-05-20 — 110th most senior of the 1293 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: WHITE DITCH (1884-05-16). Immediately behind: STEALEY OWL CREEK DITCH (1884-05-20).
Decreed rights (3)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12559.0 | 1884-05-20 | 1897-05-15 | 5.875 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 86, 90 |
| 29554.12559 | 1884-05-20 | 1942-05-11 | 5.125 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 34 |
| 40646.25872 | 1920-11-01 | 1971-09-13 | 1.0 | 0.0 | C | DOMSTK | 12 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 415 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 268 AF — 65% of that, and 4th 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 | 1,033 | 10th lowest of 15 · 249% of median | 163 | 11.3 |
| 2012 | 1,286 | 13th lowest of 15 · 310% of median | 211 | 6.6 |
| 2013 | 1,201 | 11th lowest of 15 · 289% of median | 214 | 6.4 |
| 2014 | 1,838 | 15th lowest of 15 · 443% of median | 297 | 12.4 |
| 2015 | 1,284 | 12th lowest of 15 · 309% of median | 198 | 16.0 |
| 2016 | 1,362 | 14th lowest of 15 · 328% of median | 235 | 10.4 |
| 2017 | 672 | 9th lowest of 15 · 162% of median | 232 | 3.2 |
| 2018 | 262 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 63% of median | 155 | 4.3 |
| 2019 | 259 | 1st lowest of 15 · 62% of median | 82 | 2.9 |
| 2020 | 415 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 187 | 5.0 |
| 2021 | 296 | 5th lowest of 15 · 71% of median | 151 | 2.5 |
| 2022 | 412 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 143 | 3.0 |
| 2023 | 404 | 6th lowest of 15 · 97% of median | 162 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 260 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 63% of median | 174 | 2.6 |
| 2025 | 268 | 4th lowest of 15 · 65% of median | 182 | 2.1 |
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.