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Water Division 7: the San Juan and Dolores
Water Division 7 is the southwest corner of Colorado: the San Juan, Piedra, Animas, Los Pinos, La Plata and Mancos basins, and the Dolores south of the Township 45 North line. C.R.S. § 37-92-201(1)(g)
It holds 8,081 decreed water-right records, the fewest of the seven and 5% of the state, and more interstate compacts than any other division. Its water court and division engineer are in Durango.
Division 7 at a glance
| Measure | Division 7 | Among the seven |
|---|---|---|
| Decreed water-right records | 8,081 | fewest, 5% of the state |
| Records with an absolute amount | 6,455 | 80% of the division |
| Records that are conditional only | 973 | rank 4 of 7 |
| Distinct structures (WDIDs) | 6,646 | rank 7 of 7 |
| Well permit records | 28,060 | fifth most, 4% of the state |
| Ditch priorities dated before statehood (Aug. 1, 1876) | 71 | of 2,133 ditch priorities |
| Calls in effect, Oct. 2026 | 3 | 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).
Small in count, dense with compacts
Division 7 has the fewest decreed records in the state, but its ditch priorities open with an unusual entry. The five most senior ditch priorities still decreed absolute are all diversions DWR lists under Southern Ute ("SO UTE") names, every one carrying an appropriation date of Mar. 2, 1868: SO UTE CAT CREEK DIVR A on Cat Creek, SO UTE CAT CREEK DIVR B1 on Cat Creek, SO UTE RND MEADOW DIVR C on Cat Creek, SO UTE SAN JUAN DIVR G on San Juan River, SO UTE SAN JUAN DIVR H on San Juan River. Each links to its DWR record in the table below.
Four interstate compacts reach this corner, more than any other division: the Colorado River and Upper Colorado River compacts that govern the whole basin, plus the La Plata River Compact and the Animas-La Plata Project Compact, each codified as its own article of Title 37 and each made with New Mexico.
The largest storage right is McPhee Reservoir, at 350,000 acre-feet on the Dolores, in the part of that river the statute assigns here; the northern part is in Division 4. Among the largest flow rights is a recreation decree, Durango Boating Park Structure 5 on the Animas at 1,400 cfs. By record count, La Plata County leads with 4,123 records, 51% of the division.
What the statute puts in Division 7
Division 7: Division 7 consists of all lands located in the southwest corner of the state of Colorado and in the drainage basins of the San Juan river, Rio Piedra, Rio Las Animas, Los Pinos river, La Plata river, Rio Mancos and streams tributary to said rivers and creeks as well as that portion of the Dolores river and its tributaries lying south of the north line of Township 45 North, New Mexico Principal Meridian.
The oldest ditch priorities in Division 7
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO UTE CAT CREEK DIVR A | CAT CREEK | Mar. 2, 1868 | 7 cfs | Irrigation |
| SO UTE CAT CREEK DIVR B1 | CAT CREEK | Mar. 2, 1868 | 1 cfs | Irrigation |
| SO UTE RND MEADOW DIVR C | CAT CREEK | Mar. 2, 1868 | 5.4 cfs | Irrigation |
| SO UTE SAN JUAN DIVR G | SAN JUAN RIVER | Mar. 2, 1868 | 0.38 cfs | Irrigation |
| SO UTE SAN JUAN DIVR H | SAN JUAN RIVER | Mar. 2, 1868 | 0.48 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DURANGO BOATING PARK STRUCTURE 5 | ANIMAS RIVER | Feb. 23, 2006 | 1,400 cfs | Recreation |
| VALLECITO HYDROELECTRIC | LOS PINOS RIVER | Jun. 1, 1979 | 720 cfs | Power generation |
| DOLORES TUNNEL | DOLORES RIVER | Nov. 25, 1885 | 707.7 cfs | Irrigation |
| MCPHEE RESERVOIR INLET | DOLORES RIVER | Sep. 10, 1940 | 585 cfs | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Domestic, Stock, Other |
| CASCADE CANAL | CASCADE CREEK | Oct. 2, 1902 | 400 cfs | Industrial, Domestic, Other |
Storage rights (acre-feet)
| Structure | Source | Appropriated | Net absolute | Decreed uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCPHEE RESERVOIR | DOLORES RIVER | Sep. 10, 1940 | 350,000 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Domestic, Stock, Other |
| VALLECITO RESERVOIR | LOS PINOS RIVER | Nov. 13, 1935 | 129,675 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Domestic, Stock, Augmentation, Other |
| HOWARDSVILLE RESERVOIR | ANIMAS RIVER | Sep. 2, 1938 | 69,039 AF | Irrigation, Municipal, Industrial, Fishery, Domestic, Stock, Other, Wildlife |
| LA PLATA DIV DAM & CANAL | TRANSBASIN WATER | Sep. 2, 1938 | 41,505 AF | Storage, Irrigation, Municipal, Industrial, Recreation, Fishery, Domestic, Stock, Other, Wildlife |
| LEMON RESERVOIR | FLORIDA RIVER | Jun. 10, 1936 | 40,240 AF | Irrigation, Fishery, Domestic, Stock, Other |
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 | 4,893 | 61% |
| Stock | 3,312 | 41% |
| Domestic | 2,769 | 34% |
| Fishery | 1,307 | 16% |
| Recreation | 1,110 | 14% |
| Fire | 1,031 | 13% |
| Structure type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ditch | 2,657 | 33% |
| Well | 1,583 | 20% |
| Reservoir | 1,378 | 17% |
| Spring | 1,173 | 15% |
| Pump | 905 | 11% |
| Pipeline | 157 | 2% |
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: Animas River (555); San Juan River (360); Groundwater: Animas River (360); Mancos River (324); Florida River (319); Groundwater: Los Pinos River (230). "Groundwater:" entries are wells drawing on that stream's alluvium or on a named aquifer.
| Water district | Decreed records |
|---|---|
| 29 | 1,095 |
| 30 | 2,855 |
| 31 | 1,119 |
| 32 | 687 |
| 33 | 447 |
| 34 | 651 |
| 46 | 107 |
| 69 | 74 |
| 71 | 363 |
| 77 | 241 |
| 78 | 442 |
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: La Plata (4,123); Archuleta (1,632); Montezuma (1,467); San Juan (295); Dolores (233); Mineral (165); Hinsdale (92); San Miguel (72). 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 3 active administrative records in Division 7 (3 calls). All 3 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 | MESA DITCH | Jan. 12, 1891 | May 18, 2026 |
| EAST FORK PIEDRA RIVER | PIEDRA FALLS DITCH | Jul. 18, 1934 | Jun. 23, 2026 |
| FLORIDA RIVER | LEMON RESERVOIR | Jun. 10, 1936 | Sep. 16, 2026 |
Water court, water clerk and division engineer
- Water court: La Plata County Courthouse, Durango Colorado Judicial Branch · Oct. 2026. Applications are heard by the Division 7 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 7.
- Water clerk: in the office of the clerk of the district court, La Plata County C.R.S. § 37-92-204(1)(b).
- Division engineer: office in Durango 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
- La Plata River Compact (with New Mexico) C.R.S. title 37, article 63
- Animas-La Plata Project Compact (with New Mexico) C.R.S. title 37, article 64
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 5: Colorado (27,726 decreed records)
- Division 6: Yampa, White and North Platte (17,878 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 7?
At the La Plata County Courthouse in Durango. The water clerk keeps filings in the La Plata County district court clerk's office (C.R.S. § 37-92-204(1)(b)), and the division engineer's office is in Durango.
What is the oldest water right in Division 7?
Among ditch priorities still decreed absolute, five diversions listed under Southern Ute names share the most senior date, Mar. 2, 1868, as recorded by DWR on October 16, 2026. Each links to its record on DWR's site.
Is the Dolores River in Division 7?
The part south of the north line of Township 45 North, New Mexico Principal Meridian, is (C.R.S. § 37-92-201(1)(g)), including McPhee Reservoir. North of that line the Dolores is in Division 4.
Which counties are in Water Division 7?
By number of decreed records: La Plata, Archuleta, Montezuma, San Juan, Dolores, Mineral. Mineral, Hinsdale and San Miguel counties reach into other divisions, so place a specific parcel with the DWR Map Viewer.