Data Sources

Colorado Decision Support Systems / Colorado Division of Water Resources

WaterGapMap uses public Colorado water-data records made available through Colorado Decision Support Systems (CDSS) and the Colorado Division of Water Resources (DWR). The primary public access point for these records is the CDSS Data & Tools portal.

CDSS Structures data

WaterGapMap uses CDSS administrative structure records for structure identifiers and map context, including WDID, structure name, structure type, water division, water district, county, water source, longitude, and latitude.

CDSS describes administrative structures as records used for diverting, storing, releasing, measuring, or managing water. CDSS also notes that structures are associated with a specific water source. Source: CDSS Structures tool.

CDSS Diversion Records

WaterGapMap uses diversion records associated with structures to summarize reported activity, including latest reported year, 10-year total acre-feet, and all-years total acre-feet. CDSS notes that diversion records are associated with structures. Source: CDSS Structures tool.

CDSS Water Rights / Net Amounts

WaterGapMap uses public water-right and net-amount data to identify whether a matching water-right record and a nonzero net decreed amount were identified in the current dataset. Source: CDSS Water Rights page.

Plan / augmentation context

WaterGapMap uses plan-structure relationships where available to flag whether a structure appears plan-governed in the current dataset. This is administrative context for review and does not determine legal coverage, compliance, or the effect of any plan.

Derived WaterGapMap fields

Some fields shown in WaterGapMap are derived by WaterGapMap and are not official CDSS fields. These include:

WaterGapMap derives these fields from public records for screening and review. For example, a review note may say that no matching water-right record was identified in the current dataset, rather than making a legal conclusion about whether a right exists.

Data limitations

Data sources accessed and processed during the 2026 WaterGapMap Colorado MVP build.

Public records may be incomplete, stale, corrected after extraction, spatially imprecise, or inconsistent across systems. A missing record in WaterGapMap does not mean a record does not exist elsewhere.

Review practice

Reviewers should confirm important questions directly with authoritative source systems, agency records, court records, title documents, engineering analysis, field inspection, and qualified legal or technical professionals.

Use condition: WaterGapMap is an informational screening tool. It does not determine legality, compliance, abandonment, ownership, or the existence or nonexistence of a valid water right.