Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 829 water rights on record in Hinsdale County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1872-06-08 to 2025-10-21.
CFS on record: 7,637.1 absolute · 234.6 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: 38 rights in Hinsdale 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 Hinsdale County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 71 | 8.6% | |
| 1900-1949 | 321 | 38.7% | |
| 1950-1969 | 107 | 12.9% | |
| 1970-1999 | 264 | 31.8% | |
| 2000+ | 66 | 8.0% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | 355 |
| Domestic | 209 |
| Stock | 187 |
| Wildlife | 136 |
| Fishery | 124 |
| Minimum streamflow | 122 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1875-08-01 | EATON GULCH DITCH | LAKE FORK | 0.26 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1875-08-15 | F S WILLIAM D NO 1 | FRIENDS CREEK | 0.71 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1877-06-01 | RIGNEY D AKA GONER D | LAKE FORK | 0.27 CFS | Irrigation, Augmentation | state record |
| 1879-09-01 | LAKE FORK IRR DITCH | LAKE FORK | 1.57 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1880-05-01 | GREENFIELD DITCH | LAKE FORK | 0.4 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1882-05-01 | UPPER CEBOLLA DITCH | CEBOLLA CREEK | 4.69 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1883-06-01 | D C BAKER NO 1 D | FRIENDS CREEK | 1.31 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1890-08-01 | CIMARRON FEEDER GARNET DITCH | WEST FORK CIMARRON RIVER | 50.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1894-09-01 | PAGOSA DITCH | PAGOSA CREEK | 2.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1895-09-15 | BURDETT D | SOUTH CLEAR CREEK | 1.0 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Hinsdale County covers every one of the 829 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.