Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 1,334 water rights on record in Custer County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1866-05-31 to 2021-07-19.
CFS on record: 921.4 absolute · 45.5 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: 21 rights in Custer 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 Custer County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 673 | 50.4% | |
| 1900-1949 | 222 | 16.6% | |
| 1950-1969 | 235 | 17.6% | |
| 1970-1999 | 163 | 12.2% | |
| 2000+ | 41 | 3.1% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | 741 |
| Stock | 374 |
| Domestic | 276 |
| Fire | 83 |
| Augmentation | 71 |
| Recreation | 68 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1866-05-31 | FLORENCE ADOBE CREEK PL | ADOBE CREEK | 1.0 CFS | Municipal | state record |
| 1867-05-31 | FLORENCE ADOBE CREEK PL | ADOBE CREEK | 0.5 CFS | Municipal | state record |
| 1867-11-03 | COLEMAN DITCH | HARDSCRABBLE CREEK | 2.5625 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1868-03-04 | HARRINGTON DITCH | HARDSCRABBLE CREEK | 4.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1868-05-31 | MONTEVILLE DITCH | SOUTH HARDSCRABBLE CREEK | 1.125 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1869-05-01 | REECE DITCH | HARDSCRABBLE CREEK | 1.125 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1869-05-20 | VORIS SWIFT CREEK NO 1 | SWIFT CREEK | 1.448 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1869-07-01 | WM CONRADTS DITCH NO 1 | MACEY CREEK | 0.2 CFS | Irrigation, Augmentation | state record |
| 1869-07-01 | H H TOMPKINS DITCH NO 1 | HORN CREEK | 2.13 CFS | Irrigation, Commercial, Recreation, Stock, Augmentation, Wildlife | state record |
| 1869-09-01 | WM CONRADTS DITCH NO 1 | MACEY CREEK | 0.89 CFS | Irrigation, Augmentation | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Custer County covers every one of the 1,334 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.