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DOLORES TUNNEL
Structure dossier · WDID 7104675 · 7 · DOLORES RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:53 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (f6d7fdc) — 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 1879-05-31 — 3rd most senior of the 279 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: DOLORES WATER DIVERSION (1879-05-31). Immediately behind: TOWN OF DOLORES WELL #1 (1879-05-31).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10743.0 | 1879-05-31 | 1892-02-01 | 1.1 | 0.0 | C | IRR | D-1 |
| 11063.0 | 1880-04-15 | 1892-02-01 | 1.1 | 0.0 | C | IRR | D-2 |
| 11444.0 | 1881-05-01 | 1892-02-01 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUN | D-8 |
| 11453.0 | 1881-05-10 | 1892-02-01 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNINDDOMSTK | D-9 |
| 11839.0 | 1882-05-31 | 1892-02-01 | 1.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | D-12 |
| 12204.0 | 1883-05-31 | 1892-02-01 | 1.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | D-14 |
| 13113.0 | 1885-11-25 | 1892-02-01 | 707.7 | 505.0 | C | IRR | D-16 |
| 30667.13113 | 1885-11-25 | 1963-03-22 | 100.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNINDDOMSTKOTH | 62-17SP |
| 45117.0 | 1973-07-11 | 1973-12-31 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | MUNINDDOMSTK | |
| 51134.47967 | 1981-04-30 | 1990-12-31 | 375.0 | 50.0 | C | PWR |
Legal record & documents
16 decreed actions on record across
5 court cases:
90CW0077, 85CW0027, 20CW3014, 16CW3016, 12CW0021.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
90CW0077 | 2 | 1990-12-31 | S |
85CW0027 | 5 | 1973-12-31 | O, S |
20CW3014 | 1 | 1963-03-22 | S |
16CW3016 | 3 | 1963-03-22 | O, S |
12CW0021 | 5 | 1892-02-01 | 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 76,789 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 63,151 AF — 82% 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 | 86,779 | 13th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 365 | 367.0 |
| 2012 | 87,824 | 14th lowest of 15 · 114% of median | 366 | 338.0 |
| 2013 | 59,680 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 78% of median | 365 | 276.0 |
| 2014 | 83,676 | 10th lowest of 15 · 109% of median | 365 | 346.0 |
| 2015 | 76,789 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 365 | 289.0 |
| 2016 | 83,539 | 9th lowest of 15 · 109% of median | 366 | 344.5 |
| 2017 | 91,649 | 15th lowest of 15 · 119% of median | 365 | 381.0 |
| 2018 | 67,779 | 5th lowest of 15 · 88% of median | 365 | 318.0 |
| 2019 | 83,898 | 11th lowest of 15 · 109% of median | 365 | 385.0 |
| 2020 | 86,626 | 12th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 366 | 333.0 |
| 2021 | 49,980 | 1st lowest of 15 · 65% of median | 365 | 267.0 |
| 2022 | 62,077 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 81% of median | 365 | 249.0 |
| 2023 | 74,835 | 6th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | 365 | 297.0 |
| 2024 | 74,995 | 7th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | 366 | 297.0 |
| 2025 | 63,151 | 4th lowest of 15 · 82% of median | 304 | 268.0 |
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 A (9/10 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 | 14610 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 100% of the irrigation seasons in 1985-2025 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.