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COTTONWOOD LAKES RES 1

Structure dossier · WDID 7203923 · 3 · COTTONWOOD CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:21 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 1894-07-24 — 124th 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: LAST RESORT DITCH (1894-05-01). Immediately behind: BIG CREEK RESERVOIR NO 5 (1894-08-13).

Decreed rights (2)

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
18749.162761894-07-241905-10-14 1848.00.0 AIRR
22995.221061910-07-111916-06-01 91.350.0 AIRR

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 989 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 733 AF — 74% of that, and 3rd 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 168 1st lowest of 15 · 17% of median 0 61 2.0
2011 1,050 10th lowest of 15 · 106% of median 2,832 365 16.8
2012 789 4th lowest of 15 · 80% of median 998 366 6.9
2013 548 2nd lowest of 15 · 55% of median 1,284 322 7.2
2014 1,034 9th lowest of 15 · 105% of median 514 253 8.0
2015 989 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 900 365 6.4
2016 1,308 13th lowest of 15 · 132% of median 1,284 366 18.4
2017 1,111 11th lowest of 15 · 112% of median 1,064 365 14.0
2018 837 5th lowest of 15 · 85% of median 639 365 5.2
2019 1,125 12th lowest of 15 · 114% of median 964 365 20.7
2020 837 5th lowest of 15 · 85% of median 1,359 366 8.0
2021 964 7th lowest of 15 · 98% of median 637 365 7.7
2022 1,475 15th lowest of 15 · 149% of median 971 365 10.1
2023 1,453 14th lowest of 15 · 147% of median 1,265 365 30.9
2024 733 3rd lowest of 15 · 74% of median 1,042 304 13.5

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.