Project Active
2016 – Present

Little Cimarron River – McKinley Ditch
A groundbreaking split-season water sharing agreement between agriculture and the environment.
Through 2020, the McKinley Ditch Project has restored over
million gallons
acre-feet
of water to the Little Cimarron River.
This split-season water use agreement, once operational, will be the first of its kind in the western United States.
When people think of healthy rivers, they correctly think of flowing water and lush riparian areas, not a dry river with puddles interspersed between rocks. Unfortunately, this is often the case along a three-mile segment of the Little Cimarron River in western Colorado. But the McKinley Ditch project provides a pioneering opportunity that when implemented, will greatly improve the health of the river while maintaining production on agricultural lands.

Little Cimarron River streambed
In January 2014, Colorado Water Trust purchased a portion (5.8 cfs) of the McKinley Ditch to help restore late summer flows to the Little Cimarron. Project goals include keeping agricultural lands irrigated, keeping water flowing through a three mile segment of what is often dry stream, and reconnecting habitat. Colorado Water Trust and Colorado Water Conservation Board filed for a change of water right in water court in December 2014 to utilize their McKinley Ditch water for instream flow use in late summer and early fall, with the intent of keeping the water on the land for irrigation during spring and early summer. A final decree was signed on October 1st, 2018.
While working through the water court process, the Water Trust was exploring ideas for how to use their McKinley Ditch water until the decree is signed. As part of that effort, in July of 2016, the Water Trust received approval from the Upper Colorado River Commission to enroll the Water Rights in the 2016 System Conservation Pilot Program (“SCPP”). Enrolling the water rights in the SCPP allowed for the Water Trust’s McKinley Ditch to irrigate approximately 195 acres of pasture grass from April through July 6th.

McKinley Ditch headgate
On July 7th, 2016, the water was removed from irrigation for the remainder of the irrigation season (the irrigation season ends annually on Oct. 31). The use of the McKinley Ditch shares in 2016 was beneficial both to the SCPP and the Water Trust, as operations mimicked future split season use and protected the water rights, before the final decree had been signed by the court. Water conserved by the Pilot Program helped to improve habitat conditions and provided benefit the Little Cimarron and downstream reaches of streams. We are hopeful the System Conservation Pilot Program results will help to identify reliable tools to address water shortages, and will lead to a more secure future for Colorado’s rivers.
The kind of creative collaboration required to make this project a success is essential to the future of Colorado’s rivers. The McKinley Ditch Project utilizes a water-sharing agreement that falls into a category of water transfers what Colorado’s Water Plan labels “Alternative Transfer Methods,” or “ATMs.” The use of ATMs, such as the split-season agreement used in the McKinley Ditch Project, offer new solutions for Colorado’s water future that alleviate the need for “buy-and-dry” transfers (which take agricultural lands out of production permanently).
- Photo Credits: Colorado Water Trust Staff
- Project Partners: Colorado Water Conservation Board, Western Rivers Conservancy, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, McKinley Ditch Shareholders
- Project Consultants: Bishop-Brogden Associates, Inc., Tessara Water, LLC, One Fish Engineering, LLC and Flywater, Inc.
Use the flow dashboard below to learn about the operations of the McKinley Ditch project, and just how much water has been restored to Little Cimarron River over the project’s lifetime. Just click or hover over the graphs below to learn more!
Little Cimarron River Project is Ready to Go
The Little Cimarron River project is a groundbreaking water sharing project that is designed to continue existing agricultural production during the early season and support river health when needed later...
Next Step in FIRST Water-sharing Agreement between Agriculture & Environment
On April 23rd, we celebrated another important landmark for this project: we finalized a permanent water-sharing agreement with the Colorado Water Conservation Board under which the environment and agriculture will...
New Water Agreements Benefit Area Trout Streams
New water agreements and release patterns are a good thing for the region's trout populations, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists.
On the Little Cimarron River, a new split...
New Water Agreements Benefit Area Trout Streams
New water agreements and release patterns are a good thing for the region's trout populations, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists.
On the Little Cimarron River, a new split...
Water Sharing Accord Benefits Fish, Farms along Little Cimarron River
An agreement allowing the same water rights to be used for fish and for farming recently was signed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Colorado Water Trust.
Under...
State Agency into Buying Water to Leave in Rivers
Just one state agency has a mission that includes paying people to leave water in Colorado’s rivers for environmental reasons — and that can legally protect the flowing water —...
Colorado: Water Sharing a Good Deal for Rivers In the News
State water board, conservation group team up to create innovative new water rights agreement
FRISCO — For thousands of years, the Little Cimarron River trickled out of the snowfields of...
‘Split Season’ Approach to Water Use Could Benefit State’s Rivers, Including the Crystal
An innovative deal put together by the Colorado Water Trust to leave more water in the Little Cimarron River, a heavily diverted tributary of the Cimarron and Gunnison rivers east...
Novel Rights Agreement Reached to Protect River Flows in Colorado’s Gunnison Basin
By Tripp Baltz - Water Law & Policy Monitor, Bloomberg News
Reproduced with permission from Water Law & Policy Monitor, 2015 WLPM (April 30, 2015). Copyright 2015 by The Bureau...
New Colorado water rights transfer allows farmers to irrigate, then profit by leaving water in the stream
Steamboat Springs — The Colorado Water Trust and a state water agency have unveiled a creative new way for agricultural water rights holders to be compensated for sharing their water...
Before the Court: Change of Use for Colorado Water Trust’s McKinley Ditch Shares
Colorado’s water-short rivers present complex challenges that require creative solutions. At the Water Trust, we’ve always been inspired to explore new, localized approaches when existing ones don’t fit. For example,...
Division of Water Resources approves temporary water lease
On August 19, 2013, CWT obtained approval from the Division Engineer to use the McKinley Ditch shares in the Short Term Lease program. The Short Term Lease Program allows for...
S.K. Mason Environmental conducts baseline study
During the summer and fall of 2013, CWT contracted with S.K. Mason Environmental, LLC, to document stream conditions on the Little Cimarron River. S.K. Mason Environmental collected data on surface...
CWCB value determination for Cimarron River instream flows
The Colorado Water Trust received this official communication from the Colorado Water Conservation Board stating that our temporary lease of water has value for instream flows on the Cimarron River.
...Water Trust partners with Western Rivers Conservancy
Fortunately, CWT was able to form a partnership with Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC), which specializes in the acquisition of riparian lands for conservation purposes, and in 2010, WRC purchased the...
The seed of a project is planted
In 2008, a local landowner contacted the Colorado Water Trust offering to sell his 1.5 shares (of 8) in the McKinley Ditch separate from his land with the intention of...