Irrigation Water in the Lower Arkansas Valley
Captured: 2026-04-18.
Which canal serves McClave?
McClave sits in western Bent County just north of the Arkansas River — squarely in the service area of the Fort Lyon Canal Company (FLCC). FLCC is the longest canal in Colorado:
- Diverts from the Arkansas River between Swink and La Junta (Otero County).
- Runs ~103.7 miles east through Otero, Bent, and Prowers counties.
- Irrigates ~91,630 acres.
- Typical deliveries: 200,000–211,000 AF/year.
- FLCC's current Vice President is listed as "from McClave" — confirms the direct institutional tie.
Other canals in the basin, for orientation:
- Amity Mutual Irrigation Company — diverts further east near Lamar; serves Prowers County, east of McClave. Some McClave owners hold AMIC shares as supplemental supply.
- Holbrook Mutual Irrigating Co. — heads west of McClave near Rocky Ford/Swink; mid-valley north side. Does not reach McClave proper.
- Las Animas Consolidated Extension — south side around Las Animas town; not McClave.
- Keesee Ditch — smaller, upstream north side; not McClave.
The typical water portfolio on a Bent County deed is FLCC + some combination of Hyde, Wheat Ridge Lateral, AMIC, and LAWMA shares. FLCC is the primary.
Where the water comes from (upstream trace)
- Headwaters (native): Snowmelt in the Sawatch Range (Mt. Elbert, Mt. Massive, near Leadville) and Mosquito Range.
- Transmountain imports (Fryingpan–Arkansas Project): The Charles H. Boustead Tunnel carries ~69,200 AF/yr average from 16 small collection dams on the Fryingpan (Western Slope, Colorado River basin) under the Continental Divide into Turquoise Reservoir west of Leadville. Ruedi Reservoir on the Fryingpan is the Western Slope compensatory storage.
- Upper storage: Turquoise → Mt. Elbert Forebay/Powerplant → Twin Lakes Reservoir (also receives Independence Pass Transmountain Diversion, Twin Lakes Co. rights, ~40–45 kaf/yr).
- Mid-basin: Twin Lakes → down the Arkansas past Buena Vista, Salida, Cañon City → Pueblo Reservoir (largest Fry-Ark storage, 357 kaf capacity).
- Through the valley: Pueblo releases flow past Avondale, Rocky Ford, La Junta, Las Animas. Fort Lyon's headgate is between Swink and La Junta; from there it runs east along the north side of the valley, through McClave.
- Compact storage: John Martin Reservoir on the main stem, ~15 miles SE of McClave, re-regulates the river for the Arkansas River Compact.
Reservoirs that matter to McClave
| Reservoir | Operator | Role | Capacity (AF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pueblo Reservoir | USBR (Fry-Ark) | Main Fry-Ark pool; Winter Water Storage Program (WWSP) host | 349,940 (spillway) |
| Turquoise | USBR (Fry-Ark) | First stop for Boustead imports | 129,440 |
| Twin Lakes | USBR (Fry-Ark) | Pumped storage with Mt. Elbert; Indep. Pass receipts | 141,000 |
| Ruedi | USBR (Fry-Ark) | Western Slope compensatory storage on Fryingpan River | 102,373 |
| John Martin | USACE | Compact re-regulation; 60% CO / 40% KS split | 348,599 conservation pool |
| Horse Creek / Adobe Creek | FLCC | Fort Lyon's off-channel storage (visible from McClave area) | — |
| Great Plains (Queens: Nee Noshe, Nee Gronda, etc.) | Amity | NE of McClave, Amity's off-channel storage | — |
Water rights and "runs of water"
FLCC is a mutual irrigation company: each share = pro-rata fraction of whatever the canal diverts that day. When the river is short, the company rotates delivery — each lateral or farm gets its share in a scheduled "run", typically ~7–14 day cycles in peak season. When water is abundant, FLCC can deliver 5–8+ runs through summer; when it's short, fewer. The seller's "numerous runs throughout the summer" language maps to a shareholder on rotation delivery.
Colorado uses prior appropriation ("first in time, first in right"). FLCC's senior direct-flow right dates to the 1880s and is one of the stronger senior rights in the lower Arkansas, which is why McClave hay ground is reliable even in mediocre years. Junior wells must replace their river depletions — which is where LAWMA (Lower Arkansas Water Management Association, 1973) comes in: a member-owned augmentation entity that buys/leases surface rights to offset well pumping under Colorado's Ground Water Rules for the Arkansas Basin.
The Arkansas River Compact (1948) with Kansas caps Colorado's post-1949 depletions. Enforced through Kansas v. Colorado. This constrains how aggressively Colorado junior users can pump, especially in dry years.
What determines how much water McClave fields actually get
In rough priority order:
- Upper Arkansas snowpack (Fremont Pass, Brumley, Independence Pass SNOTELs). Sets native supply.
- Fry-Ark transmountain yield — highly variable, 30,000–100,000+ AF. 2026 is forecast at ~6,500 AF (crisis level).
- Carryover in Turquoise / Twin Lakes / Pueblo / John Martin from prior year.
- Compact deliveries to Kansas — John Martin 40% Kansas pool; dry-year Compact shortfalls hit Colorado users first.
- WWSP participation — winter-stored water (Nov 15 – Mar 14) released in summer.
- LAWMA augmentation supply — determines whether wells on member farms can pump.
- Active river calls — when a senior call goes on, juniors above the calling structure are curtailed. FLCC is usually senior enough to ride through most summer calls, but not all.
Data endpoints
Streamflow (USGS NWIS — JSON / RDB / WaterML)
- Arkansas at Las Animas —
07124000— closest mainstem gauge to McClave - Fort Lyon Canal at Bent–Otero County Line —
07122100— metadata only; no real-time or daily values in USGS NWIS as of 2026-04-18. Use CDSS diversion records instead (below). - Diversion-by-difference proxy: Arkansas below Pueblo (
07099970) minus Arkansas at Las Animas (07124000) ≈ total canal diversions in the Rocky Ford / Swink / La Junta reach, dominated by Fort Lyon. (On 2026-04-18: 88 cfs minus 15.5 cfs ≈ ~73 cfs diverted — the Fort Lyon headgate is pulling most of it, consistent with "canal is full.") - Arkansas at Cañon City —
07096000 - Arkansas at Avondale (below Pueblo) —
07099970 - Arkansas at Lamar —
07133000 - Arkansas near Coolidge, KS (Compact gauge) —
07137500 - JSON pattern:
https://waterservices.usgs.gov/nwis/iv/?format=json&sites=07124000,07122100¶meterCd=00060&period=P7D
Reservoirs
- Pueblo RISE (Location 445): https://data.usbr.gov/location/445
- Pueblo Hydromet CGI: https://www.usbr.gov/gp-bin/arcweb_puer.pl
- Twin Lakes: https://www.usbr.gov/gp-bin/arcweb_twlr.pl
- Turquoise: https://www.usbr.gov/gp-bin/arcweb_turq.pl
- Ruedi: https://www.usbr.gov/gp-bin/arcweb_rueresco.pl
- John Martin (USACE): https://w3.spa.usace.army.mil/wc/htmlrpts/JohnMartin.html
- CO DWR reservoir stations (Div 2): https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/Stations?SelectedWaterDivisionId=2
Snowpack (NRCS)
- Basin products: https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/states/CO/products/
- Report generator (CSV export): https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reportGenerator/
- AWDB REST: https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/awdbRestApi/services/v1/
- Interactive map: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/snow-and-water-interactive-map
Calls, diversions, administration (CO DWR CDSS)
- REST root / help: https://dwr.state.co.us/rest/get/help
- Active calls (Div 2): https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/AdministrativeCalls/Active?SelectedWaterDivisionId=2
- Div 2 ops dashboard: https://div2waterops.com/active_river_calls
- Structure diversion records:
https://dwr.state.co.us/Rest/GET/api/v2/structures/divrec/divrecday/?wdid=<WDID> - Fort Lyon Canal structure lookup (WDID not yet captured): browse https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/Structures?structureType=DITCH&waterDistrictId=67 (Water District 67 is the main FLCC district) to find the FLCC headgate WDID, then query divrecday for daily diversion volumes. This is the authoritative source since USGS 07122100 is not actively reporting.
Canal / project orgs
- Fort Lyon Canal Company: https://flcc.net/ (no public data feed; board / contact only)
- Southeastern Colorado WCD (Fry-Ark operator, WWSP host): https://www.secwcd.org/
- LAWMA: http://www.lawma.net/
- Arkansas River Compact Administration: https://co-ks-arkansasrivercompactadmin.org/
- Lower Ark Valley WCD: https://www.lowerark.com/