Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 4,174 water rights on record in Larimer County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1860-06-01 to 2021-03-31.
CFS on record: 24,211.5 absolute · 31,737.0 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: 255 rights in Larimer 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 Larimer County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 1,025 | 24.6% | |
| 1900-1949 | 1,171 | 28.1% | |
| 1950-1969 | 995 | 23.8% | |
| 1970-1999 | 749 | 17.9% | |
| 2000+ | 234 | 5.6% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | 2,211 |
| Domestic | 1,684 |
| Stock | 893 |
| Municipal | 864 |
| Recreation | 712 |
| Fishery | 619 |
Ranked by the state's own priority administration number, the figure DWR uses to order rights by seniority.
| Priority | Structure | Source | Amount | Uses | Verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860-06-01 | FORT COLLINS PIPELINE | CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER | 3.501 CFS | Municipal | state record |
| 1861-06-01 | FORT COLLINS IRR CNL | CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER | 0.72 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Stock, Augmentation, Change of use return flow, Wildlife | state record |
| 1861-06-01 | NORTH POUDRE CANAL | NORTH FORK CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER | 0.72 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Fire, Domestic, Stock, Augmentation, Change of use return flow, Wildlife | state record |
| 1861-06-01 | OSBORNE CAYWOOD DITCH | LITTLE THOMPSON RIVER | 3.12 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1861-06-10 | DRY CREEK DITCH | CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER | 11.67 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, All beneficial uses | state record |
| 1861-09-01 | PLEASANT VALLEY LAKE CNL | CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER | 10.97 CFS | Irrigation, Recreation, Fishery, Domestic, Augmentation, Wildlife | state record |
| 1861-11-10 | LOVELAND PIPELINE | BIG THOMPSON RIVER | 6.3641 CFS | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fire, Domestic, Other | state record |
| 1861-11-10 | LOVELAND PIPELINE | BIG THOMPSON RIVER | 222.6 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fire, Domestic, Other | state record |
| 1861-11-10 | FARMERS IRRIGATION CANAL | BIG THOMPSON RIVER | 4.0 CFS | Storage, Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Other | state record |
| 1861-11-10 | FARMERS IRRIGATION CANAL | BIG THOMPSON RIVER | 564.14 AF | Storage, Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fire, Domestic, Augmentation, Other | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Larimer County covers every one of the 4,174 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.