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R L SMITH DITCH NO 1

Structure dossier · WDID 7900559 · 1 · HUERFANO RIVER · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:20 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 1868-04-10 — 33rd most senior of the 930 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: MARTINEZ DITCH (1868-04-10). Immediately behind: CENTER DITCH (1868-04-18).

Decreed rights (4)

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
6675.01868-04-101889-06-12 0.60.0 CIRR 26
13881.01888-01-021889-06-12 2.20.0 CIRR 92
16557.01895-05-011898-02-23 1.00.0 CIRR
19416.01903-02-281921-10-03 1.20.0 CIRR 315

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 129 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 209 AF — 162% of that, and 9th 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 17 2nd lowest of 15 · 13% of median 51 0.6
2012 31 3rd lowest of 15 · 24% of median 56 0.6
2013 10 1st lowest of 15 · 8% of median 26 1.0
2014 129 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 81 2.7
2015 464 15th lowest of 15 · 360% of median 153 5.6
2016 353 13th lowest of 15 · 274% of median 151 3.7
2017 409 14th lowest of 15 · 317% of median 216 2.7
2018 35 4th lowest of 15 · 27% of median 60 0.7
2019 344 12th lowest of 15 · 267% of median 191 3.0
2020 64 6th lowest of 15 · 50% of median 109 0.7
2021 225 10th lowest of 15 · 174% of median 149 2.9
2022 118 7th lowest of 15 · 92% of median 105 1.9
2023 44 5th lowest of 15 · 34% of median 49 0.6
2024 264 11th lowest of 15 · 205% of median 167 1.4
2025 209 9th lowest of 15 · 162% of median 144 1.4

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.