Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 1,687 water rights on record in Arapahoe County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1861-08-30 to 2024-05-30.
CFS on record: 761.0 absolute · 756.5 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: 99 rights in Arapahoe County carry a conditional portion, water that is decreed but not yet perfected. Absolute and conditional are not the same asset.
In a dry year the oldest rights are served first. This is how Arapahoe County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 96 | 5.7% | |
| 1900-1949 | 116 | 6.9% | |
| 1950-1969 | 382 | 22.6% | |
| 1970-1999 | 632 | 37.5% | |
| 2000+ | 461 | 27.3% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Domestic | 1,050 |
| Irrigation | 1,008 |
| Municipal | 782 |
| Commercial | 688 |
| Stock | 684 |
| Industrial | 572 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1861-08-30 | ENGLEWOOD INTAKE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 11.006 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Stock, Other, Wildlife | state record |
| 1861-08-30 | LITTLETON PL | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 0.54 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1861-08-30 | FARNELL LANE W R-11553 | GROUNDWATER: SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 0.96 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1861-11-30 | ENGLEWOOD INTAKE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 7.0 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Fire, Domestic, Other | state record |
| 1862-03-15 | OLSON BELL DITCH | BEAR CREEK | 6.3 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1862-11-30 | BROWN DITCH | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 3.8 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Domestic | state record |
| 1862-11-30 | BROWN DITCH | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 199.0 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Domestic | state record |
| 1862-11-30 | BROWN DITCH IN STREAM AT HEADGATE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 3.01 CFS | Augmentation | state record |
| 1863-12-30 | ENGLEWOOD INTAKE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 1.0 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Fire, Domestic, Other | state record |
| 1865-12-30 | ENGLEWOOD INTAKE | SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 6.716 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Fire, Domestic, Other, Wildlife | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Arapahoe County covers every one of the 1,687 rights, with its priority date, seniority number, absolute and conditional amounts, decreed uses and a link to each official record, as a spreadsheet.
Buying, lending on, or listing irrigated ground here? Ask for the county file, or for a single property's water summary. The first one is on me.
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Records last updated 10 September 2026.