Last verified
Water Division 5: the Colorado mainstem
Water Division 5 is the Colorado River basin inside Colorado, every tributary included, except the Gunnison, which has its own division. C.R.S. § 37-92-201(1)(e)
It holds 27,726 decreed water-right records, 16% of the state and second only to Division 1, and more conditional rights than any other division. Its water court and division engineer are in Glenwood Springs.
Division 5 at a glance
| Measure | Division 5 | Among the seven |
|---|---|---|
| Decreed water-right records | 27,726 | second most, 16% of the state |
| Records with an absolute amount | 16,903 | 61% of the division |
| Records that are conditional only | 3,041 | rank 1 of 7 |
| Distinct structures (WDIDs) | 18,386 | rank 2 of 7 |
| Well permit records | 51,187 | third most, 8% of the state |
| Ditch priorities dated before statehood (Aug. 1, 1876) | 10 | of 5,675 ditch priorities |
| Calls in effect, Oct. 2026 | 25 | dated snapshot, see below |
Counts pulled from the Colorado Division of Water Resources on October 16, 2026 DWR net amounts DWR well permits. A "record" is one decreed priority, so a ditch with three decrees counts three times; a well permit record is not a water right (see well permit vs. water right).
The division of decreed plans
A conditional right is a decreed promise: a priority held for a project that has not yet put the water to use. Division 5 holds 3,041 records that are conditional only, more than any other division, and only 61% of its records carry an absolute amount, the lowest share of the seven. A conditional right is considered abandoned unless its owner files for a finding of reasonable diligence every sixth year C.R.S. § 37-92-301(4)(a)(I); see how a new water right is made.
The big numbers here are storage and nonconsumptive flow. The largest storage rights are Cbt Granby Reservoir (543,758 acre-feet), Dillon Reservoir (252,678 acre-feet), Green Mountain Reservoir (160,961 acre-feet). Among the five largest flow rights, 2 are decreed for power generation, led by Green Mtn Hydro-Electric, and 2 are decreed for recreation: Avon Whitewater Course Ricd Bob Sr on the Eagle River, Cbt Granby Pump Canal on the Colorado River.
Its ditch priorities are young by Colorado standards. The oldest still decreed absolute is the MARYLAND NO 1 DITCH on Willow Creek, appropriated Jul. 1, 1869, and only 10 ditch priorities predate statehood. By record count the busiest county is Garfield, home to the water court in Glenwood Springs.
What the statute puts in Division 5
Division 5: Division 5 consists of all lands in the state of Colorado in the drainage basins of the Colorado river and all of its tributaries arising within Colorado, with the exception of the Gunnison river.
The oldest ditch priorities in Division 5
The five most senior ditch priorities in the division that still carry an absolute amount, ranked by DWR's administration number, one per structure. Each name links to the record in DWR's own system.
| Structure | Source | Appropriated | Net absolute | Decreed uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MARYLAND NO 1 DITCH | WILLOW CREEK | Jul. 1, 1869 | 5 cfs | Irrigation |
| MARYLAND NO 2 DITCH | WILLOW CREEK | May 30, 1874 | 8 cfs | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Domestic, Augmentation |
| BYERS DITCH NO 1 | GARDINER CREEK | Jun. 1, 1875 | 0.25 cfs | Irrigation |
| BYERS DITCH NO 2 | GARDINER CREEK | Jun. 1, 1875 | 2 cfs | Irrigation |
| KIRKWOOD DITCH | SLATE CREEK | Jul. 12, 1875 | 3.25 cfs | Irrigation |
Ditches only: ranked across every structure type, the top of the list is taken by well and compact-accounting records dated earlier than any ditch (in some divisions, wells dated Dec. 31, 1850). Priority, not size, decides who is curtailed first in a call; read prior appropriation for why.
The largest decreed rights
Ranked by net absolute amount, flow and storage separately because cubic feet per second and acre-feet measure different things. Big flow numbers often belong to power plants, whitewater parks and minimum streamflow rights; the decreed uses column shows which.
Flow rights (cfs)
| Structure | Source | Appropriated | Net absolute | Decreed uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GREEN MTN HYDRO-ELECTRIC | BLUE RIVER | Aug. 1, 1935 | 1,726 cfs | Power generation |
| AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BOB SR | EAGLE RIVER | Dec. 31, 2005 | 1,400 cfs | Recreation |
| SHOSHONE POWER PLANT | COLORADO RIVER | Jan. 7, 1902 | 1,250 cfs | Industrial, Power generation |
| CBT GRANBY PUMP CANAL | COLORADO RIVER | Aug. 1, 1935 | 1,100 cfs | Irrigation, Industrial, Recreation |
| GRAND VALLEY PROJECT | COLORADO RIVER | Feb. 27, 1908 | 1,020 cfs | Commercial, Domestic |
Storage rights (acre-feet)
| Structure | Source | Appropriated | Net absolute | Decreed uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBT GRANBY RESERVOIR | COLORADO RIVER | Aug. 1, 1935 | 543,758 AF | Irrigation, Industrial, Recreation |
| DILLON RESERVOIR | BLUE RIVER | Jun. 24, 1946 | 252,678 AF | Municipal, Other |
| GREEN MOUNTAIN RESERVOIR | BLUE RIVER | Aug. 1, 1935 | 160,961 AF | Augmentation, Power generation, Other |
| RUEDI RESERVOIR | FRYINGPAN RIVER | Jul. 29, 1957 | 102,369 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Industrial, Fishery, Domestic, Stock, Power generation |
| WILLIAMS FORK RESERVOIR | WILLIAMS FORK | Nov. 10, 1935 | 93,637 AF | Municipal, Fire, Domestic, Power generation |
A structure's net absolute amount is DWR's sum of its decreed transactions; the decree itself, read through how to read a decree, controls what the right can actually divert and when.
What the water is decreed for, and what diverts it
| Decreed use | Records carrying it | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Irrigation | 16,393 | 59% |
| Domestic | 11,325 | 41% |
| Stock | 8,412 | 30% |
| Fire | 6,063 | 22% |
| Recreation | 5,290 | 19% |
| Fishery | 5,070 | 18% |
| Structure type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ditch | 7,628 | 28% |
| Well | 6,722 | 24% |
| Spring | 4,745 | 17% |
| Reservoir | 4,216 | 15% |
| Pump | 1,305 | 5% |
| Reach | 1,086 | 4% |
A record can carry several uses, so the shares add up to more than 100%. Use codes are DWR's own, as published with the net amounts data.
Streams, water districts and counties
Sources with the most decreed records: Colorado River (1,910); Groundwater: Colorado River (1,130); Groundwater: Roaring Fork River (1,110); Roaring Fork River (1,020); Eagle River (835); Parachute Creek (548). "Groundwater:" entries are wells drawing on that stream's alluvium or on a named aquifer.
| Water district | Decreed records |
|---|---|
| 36 | 2,640 |
| 37 | 4,157 |
| 38 | 6,594 |
| 39 | 2,463 |
| 45 | 1,757 |
| 50 | 530 |
| 51 | 3,491 |
| 52 | 814 |
| 53 | 1,596 |
| 70 | 843 |
| 72 | 2,841 |
The district number is the first two digits of every WDID in it, and each district is typically covered by a water commissioner. Districts are numbered across the state, not within the division, which is why the numbers here are not consecutive.
Counties with the most records here: Garfield (7,681); Eagle (6,012); Grand (4,430); Pitkin (3,398); Mesa (2,883); Summit (2,474); Routt (573); Gunnison (237). Division lines follow drainage, so a county can appear in two divisions; place a parcel with the DWR map viewer rather than by county.
Calls in effect on October 16, 2026
When this page's data was pulled, DWR listed 25 active administrative records in Division 5 (22 calls, 3 nonconsumptive calls). The 5 with the oldest priority dates are below, oldest priority first; an older calling priority curtails more junior rights on that stream.
| Stream | Calling right | Priority date | Call set |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOURMILE CREEK | FOUR MILE DITCH | Nov. 6, 1881 | Jun. 15, 2026 |
| GARFIELD CREEK | MOORE DITCH | Jun. 15, 1882 | Jun. 12, 2026 |
| POLE CREEK | FVMRD GOLF CLUB ALT PT 2 | Jul. 18, 1883 | Jun. 10, 2026 |
| WOODY CREEK | WACO DITCH | Mar. 2, 1884 | May 7, 2026 |
| CATTLE CREEK | NEEDHAM DITCH | Jul. 11, 1884 | Jul. 10, 2026 |
Water court, water clerk and division engineer
- Water court: Garfield County Courthouse, Glenwood Springs Colorado Judicial Branch · Oct. 2026. Applications are heard by the Division 5 water judge, designated each year by the Colorado Supreme Court C.R.S. § 37-92-203(2). The court's own page publishes the monthly resume of applications Water Division 5.
- Water clerk: in the office of the clerk of the district court, Garfield County C.R.S. § 37-92-204(1)(b).
- Division engineer: office in Glenwood Springs C.R.S. § 37-92-202(1)(b). The division engineer administers rights on the ground and places curtailment orders.
Interstate compacts codified in Title 37 that govern this division's rivers:
- Colorado River Compact C.R.S. title 37, article 61
- Upper Colorado River Compact C.R.S. title 37, article 62
Each compact is an agreement between states, ratified by the General Assembly and codified in the article cited. See the Colorado River Compact for how that works on the largest of them.
The other six divisions
- Division 1: South Platte (58,418 decreed records)
- Division 2: Arkansas (20,249 decreed records)
- Division 3: Rio Grande (18,451 decreed records)
- Division 4: Gunnison (22,396 decreed records)
- Division 6: Yampa, White and North Platte (17,878 decreed records)
- Division 7: San Juan and Dolores (8,081 decreed records)
All seven side by side, with the map, are on Colorado's seven water divisions.
Common questions
Where is the water court for Division 5?
At the Garfield County Courthouse in Glenwood Springs. The water clerk keeps filings in the Garfield County district court clerk's office (C.R.S. § 37-92-204(1)(b)), and the division engineer's office is in Glenwood Springs.
Is the Gunnison River in Division 5?
No. Division 5 covers the Colorado River and all of its tributaries arising in Colorado "with the exception of the Gunnison river" (C.R.S. § 37-92-201(1)(e)). The Gunnison is Division 4.
Why does Division 5 have so many conditional water rights?
The data shows the fact, not the reason: 3,041 records in Division 5 are conditional only, the most of any division, as recorded by DWR on October 16, 2026. Each one is a decreed priority for water not yet put to beneficial use, kept alive by diligence filings.
Which counties are in Water Division 5?
By number of decreed records: Garfield, Eagle, Grand, Pitkin, Mesa, Summit. Mesa, Routt and Gunnison counties reach into other divisions, so place a specific parcel with the DWR Map Viewer.