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MADDEN DITCH NO 3

Structure dossier · WDID 7300566 · 1 · SHEEP CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:08 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 1927-08-2743rd most senior of the 221 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: MADDEN DITCH EXTENDED (1927-06-08). Immediately behind: HILL DITCH (1929-06-01).

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
30895.283621927-08-271941-07-25 0.540.0 CIRR 559, 559C
44559.36281949-05-011972-12-31 1.00.0 CIRR

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 50 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 160 AF — 320% of that, and 12th lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.

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 recordDays recordedPeak (cfs)
2011 117 11th lowest of 15 · 234% of median 77 1.4
2012 5 3rd lowest of 15 · 10% of median 23 0.5
2013 29 6th lowest of 15 · 58% of median 61 0.3
2014 19 5th lowest of 15 · 38% of median 32 0.6
2015 1 1st lowest of 15 · 2% of median 16 0.2
2016 187 15th lowest of 15 · 374% of median 72 2.2
2017 175 14th lowest of 15 · 350% of median 125 1.0
2018 7 4th lowest of 15 · 14% of median 34 0.1
2019 65 9th lowest of 15 · 130% of median 63 1.2
2020 38 7th lowest of 15 · 76% of median 65 0.4
2021 50 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 130 0.3
2022 104 10th lowest of 15 · 208% of median 287 0.3
2023 1 1st lowest of 15 · 2% of median 164 0.0
2024 168 13th lowest of 15 · 336% of median 66 1.8
2025 160 12th lowest of 15 · 320% of median 194 0.8

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.