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BIG CREEK RESERVOIR NO 5

Structure dossier · WDID 7203907 · 3 · BIG CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:14 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (a1c9146) — 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 1894-08-13 — 125th most senior of the 2166 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: COTTONWOOD LAKES RES 1 (1894-07-24). Immediately behind: BAILEY DITCH (1894-10-01).

Decreed rights (1)

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. UnitsUsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
18749.162961894-08-131905-10-14 114.00.0 AIRR

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 84 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 99 AF — 118% of that, and 9th 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.

YearDiverted (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 recordReleased (AF)Days recordedPeak (cfs)
2010 73 4th lowest of 15 · 87% of median 45 61 1.0
2011 102 10th lowest of 15 · 121% of median 74 365 2.8
2012 79 5th lowest of 15 · 94% of median 81 366 1.3
2013 45 1st lowest of 15 · 54% of median 56 304 1.0
2014 81 7th lowest of 15 · 96% of median 101 121 1.6
2015 113 12th lowest of 15 · 134% of median 42 365 1.2
2016 80 6th lowest of 15 · 95% of median 128 366 1.6
2017 107 11th lowest of 15 · 127% of median 48 365 0.8
2018 114 13th lowest of 15 · 136% of median 107 365 1.5
2019 184 15th lowest of 15 · 219% of median 65 365 2.8
2020 84 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 76 366 2.4
2021 123 14th lowest of 15 · 146% of median 26 365 1.5
2022 72 2nd lowest of 15 · 86% of median 61 365 2.5
2023 72 2nd lowest of 15 · 86% of median 36 365 1.4
2024 99 9th lowest of 15 · 118% of median 85 304 2.5

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.