Seniority, absolute versus conditional water, and decreed uses for all 1,437 water rights on record in Ouray County, taken from the state's own records. Priority dates run from 1875-08-01 to 2025-01-27.
CFS on record: 2,583.2 absolute · 2,468.4 conditional. Flow (CFS) and volume (AF) are never added together.
Worth knowing: 124 rights in Ouray 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 Ouray County's rights are distributed.
| Era | Rights | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1900 | 372 | 25.9% | |
| 1900-1949 | 299 | 20.8% | |
| 1950-1969 | 230 | 16.0% | |
| 1970-1999 | 387 | 26.9% | |
| 2000+ | 149 | 10.4% |
| Decreed use | Rights |
|---|---|
| Irrigation | 786 |
| Stock | 643 |
| Domestic | 499 |
| Fishery | 205 |
| Wildlife | 193 |
| Recreation | 147 |
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 | OLD AGENCY DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 7.5 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1876-05-01 | PORTLAND DITCH | CUTLER CREEK | 0.532 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1876-05-01 | PORTLAND CAVE DIVERSION | CUTLER CREEK | 0.005 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1876-05-05 | MORRISON DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 0.625 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1876-05-10 | MCDONALD CUDDIGAN DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 0.62 CFS | Irrigation, Augmentation | state record |
| 1876-06-01 | CHARLEY LOGAN DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 7.5 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1876-06-01 | HOSNER BROWNYARD DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 3.0 CFS | Irrigation, Augmentation | state record |
| 1876-06-01 | MORRISON DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 1.25 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1877-04-15 | MAYOL SISSON DITCH | DALLAS CREEK | 2.5 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
| 1877-05-01 | BIGBEE DITCH | UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER | 1.25 CFS | Irrigation | state record |
This page is the summary. The full file for Ouray County covers every one of the 1,437 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.