Western Water Data

Jackson County, Colorado — water rights summary

Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 1,695 water rights on record in Jackson County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1880-05-15 to 2021-12-31.

At a glance

1,695water rights on record
74,443acre-feet absolute (perfected)
6,979acre-feet conditional (decreed, not yet perfected)
1.9%of rights carry a conditional portion

CFS on record: 11,357.6 absolute · 179.4 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.

Risk: absolute vs conditional

Worth knowing: 33 rights in Jackson County carry a conditional portion, water that is decreed but not yet perfected. Absolute and conditional are not the same asset.

Seniority by era

In a dry year the oldest rights are served first. This is how Jackson County's rights are distributed.

EraRightsShare
pre-190058634.6%
1900-194945026.5%
1950-19691689.9%
1970-199944026.0%
2000+513.0%

What the water is decreed for

Decreed useRights
Irrigation1,079
Stock397
Wildlife263
Fishery253
Recreation217
Domestic172

The ten most senior rights on record

Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.

PriorityStructureSourceAmount UsesVerify
1880-05-15BROCKER ENDOMILE DITCHOWL CREEK2.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1880-06-21CAPRON DITCHPINKHAM CREEK2.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1881-05-07LITTLE GRIZZLY DITCHLITTLE GRIZZLY CREEK2.5 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-05-14KERR DITCHROCK CREEK1.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-05-15OLLIVER DITCHROCK CREEK1.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-05-20J W SUTTON DITCHEAST BRANCH WILLOW CREEK4.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-06-01HANOVER DITCHWILLOW CREEK1.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-06-01PETERSON DITCH 1GRIZZLY CREEK6.0 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-06-21COE DITCH NO 1GOVERNMENT CREEK1.5 CFSIrrigationstate record
1882-06-21COE DITCH NO 2GOVERNMENT CREEK1.0 CFSIrrigationstate record

Need this for a deal?

This page is the summary. The full file for Jackson County covers every one of the 1,695 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.

erik@westernwaterdata.com

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Records last updated 10 September 2026.