Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 1,503 water rights on record in Archuleta County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1868-03-02 to 2025-12-17.
CFS on record: 2,145.6 absolute · 393.7 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: Archuleta County has about 5.2x 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 Archuleta County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 310 | 20.6% | |
| 1900-1949 | 365 | 24.3% | |
| 1950-1969 | 241 | 16.0% | |
| 1970-1999 | 375 | 25.0% | |
| 2000+ | 212 | 14.1% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | 1,125 |
| Stock | 655 |
| Domestic | 535 |
| Fishery | 333 |
| Fire | 285 |
| Recreation | 245 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1868-03-02 | SP-1801 | SANDOVAL CANYON | 0.0111 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-1802 | SANDOVAL CANYON | 0.0067 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-1805 | CAT CREEK | 0.0111 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-1902 | CAT CREEK | 0.0223 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-2001 | CAT CREEK | 0.3454 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-2006 | TRAIL CANYON | 0.0156 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-2007 | TRAIL CANYON | 0.0111 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-2202 | SAN JUAN RIVER | 0.0089 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-2203 | SAN JUAN RIVER | 0.0111 CFS | Stock | state record |
| 1868-03-02 | SP-2204 | MONTEZUMA CREEK | 0.0067 CFS | Stock | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Archuleta County covers every one of the 1,503 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.