Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 4,200 water rights on record in Elbert County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1860-12-31 to 2024-12-20.
CFS on record: 419.8 absolute · 320.1 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: 21 rights in Elbert 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 Elbert County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 30 | 0.7% | |
| 1900-1949 | 124 | 3.0% | |
| 1950-1969 | 178 | 4.2% | |
| 1970-1999 | 728 | 17.3% | |
| 2000+ | 3,140 | 74.8% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Domestic | 2,671 |
| Stock | 2,562 |
| Irrigation | 2,496 |
| Commercial | 2,312 |
| Augmentation | 2,261 |
| Fire | 1,918 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860-12-31 | SIEFKAS WELL 3 | GROUNDWATER: SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 0.062 CFS | Domestic | state record |
| 1866-04-26 | OAKS DITCH 1 | KIOWA CREEK | 2.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1868-04-01 | WENDLING DITCH HGT 1 | KILLINS SPRING RUN | 5.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1868-05-01 | OAKS DITCH 2 | KIOWA CREEK | 3.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1874-04-30 | HEISER DITCH | EAST CHERRY CREEK | 0.7 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1875-09-15 | AUX DITCH 1 | KIOWA CREEK | 2.5 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1878-05-01 | DEITRICH DITCH 1 | KIOWA CREEK | 2.5 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1879-09-04 | JARDINE SPRING WELL | GROUNDWATER: SOUTH PLATTE RIVER | 0.011 CFS | Domestic, Stock | state record |
| 1881-03-20 | FRED BACHMAN DITCH 2 | KIOWA CREEK | 5.5 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1882-07-03 | FRED BACHMAN DITCH 3 | KIOWA CREEK | 1.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Elbert County covers every one of the 4,200 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.