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Chris,

No problem. Here goes my explanation from my direct experience growing up on my father’s farm.

The river we irrigate from is called the Purgatory, a small river tributory to the Arkansas river. The headwaters of this small river originate from the mountain streams of the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

There are probably 20 ditches that derive their water from the purgatory at various points as it flows towards the southwest out of the mountains towards E. Colorado.

The priority and the amount of the water that may be taken out of the river is based on filing rights. For example, my family had rights on a ditch called the Lopez that filed in 1850. So, owning land that has high priority water rights ensures that the owner obtains his/her share of water based upon the current flowrate coming out of the mountains before somebody else who has lower filing rights. The absolute amount that a farmer receives is also based upon how many “shares” that he/she owns on a particular ditch.

The low priority ditches are at the mercy of how much water is flowing. If it is a poor snowpack, these ditch owners will likely run out of water during the growing season.

Each ditch employs a person called a ditch rider who drives the ditch daily and adjusts the “box” or measuring weir (sp)of each water holder according to the water coming down the river. Typically, each box is padlocked. Overall, there is a water commissioner who instructs each ditch rider the total amount of water that each ditch along the river may receive at their main water box entrances.

When it rains on a regular basis, everybody gets along fine (for the most part). When it gets dry, especially during peak growing season, everybody keeps an eye out for how much water is flowing in each ditch. When it gets dry, some people will steal water. Hence, my earlier post of people fighting and dying over water.

This is a very broad description of what goes on in SE Colorado. I hope this helps.

MFO