Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 2,408 water rights on record in Adams County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1860-02-25 to 2024-01-31.
CFS on record: 3,813.4 absolute · 11,803.1 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: Adams County has about 1.1x more acre-feet decreed as conditional than as absolute. Conditional water is decreed on paper but not yet put to beneficial use. A buyer or lender who does not separate the two is valuing a different asset than the one on the ground.
In a dry year the oldest rights are served first. This is how Adams County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 284 | 11.8% | |
| 1900-1949 | 421 | 17.5% | |
| 1950-1969 | 497 | 20.6% | |
| 1970-1999 | 567 | 23.5% | |
| 2000+ | 639 | 26.5% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | 1,213 |
| Domestic | 1,179 |
| Municipal | 960 |
| Industrial | 656 |
| Commercial | 648 |
| Augmentation | 635 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860-04-01 | BRANTNER DITCH | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 29.77 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Domestic, Augmentation, Change of use return flow | state record |
| 1861-05-01 | GARDENERS DITCH | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 1.8 CFS | Irrigation, Industrial, Augmentation | state record |
| 1861-05-01 | 64TH AVENUE GAGE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 0.6 CFS | Storage, Irrigation, Commercial, Recreation, Fishery, Augmentation, Evaporative, Recharge | state record |
| 1861-05-01 | 64TH AVENUE GAGE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 137.2 AF | Storage, Irrigation, Commercial, Recreation, Fishery, Augmentation, Evaporative, Recharge | state record |
| 1861-05-02 | KERSHAW DITCH | CLEAR CREEK | 11.44 CFS | Storage, Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Other, Wildlife | state record |
| 1861-05-02 | KERSHAW DITCH | CLEAR CREEK | 222.0 AF | Storage, Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Other, Wildlife | state record |
| 1861-06-29 | FISHER DITCH | CLEAR CREEK | 34.741 CFS | Storage, Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Power generation, Other | state record |
| 1861-11-01 | CLEAR CR PLATTE RIVER D | CLEAR CREEK | 49.4813 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Power generation, All beneficial uses | state record |
| 1861-11-01 | CLEAR CR PLATTE RIVER D | CLEAR CREEK | 4368.5 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Power generation, All beneficial uses | state record |
| 1863-05-01 | BRANTNER DITCH | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 5.93 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Domestic, Augmentation, Change of use return flow | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Adams County covers every one of the 2,408 rights, with its priority date, seniority number, absolute and conditional amounts, decreed uses and a link to each official record, as a spreadsheet.
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Records last updated 17 September 2026.