The main stem of the Yampa River went on call Friday afternoon — for the fourth time in history — as another indicator of the current dry conditions in Northwest Colorado.

“The Yampa River is now on call, meaning senior water rights are not getting enough water to their headgates during this dry year,” according to an email from officials at the Colorado Department of Water Resources office in Steamboat Springs. “Water rights that are junior to May 30, 1972 will need to be curtailed.”

Officials noted that water measuring structures that are not in compliance with the state measurement rules also will be curtailed, even if that water right is senior to the calling priority right. That curtailment also applies to water measuring structures that previously have been given time extensions to install proper measuring devices.

Water users who need to verify if their water right is junior or senior to the current call can look up their water right on the Colorado’s Decision Support Systems structure call analysis online at DWR.state.co.us/tools/administrativecalls/structurecalls.

“DWR does not expect the call to last for a long period of time; however, we do not have an estimate of how long the call will actually last,” according to water officials.

The main stem of the Yampa River previously went on call during three other dry years — starting on Sept. 4, 2018, Aug. 25, 2020 and July 30, 2021, according the Department of Water Resources. This year’s call on the main stem is taking place at the earliest time in the summer.

The main stem call stretches from Stillwater Reservoir to where the Yampa River meets the Little Snake River in the Lily Park area between Maybell and Dinosaur National Monument. With the Friday call on the main stem of the river, the vast majority of the Yampa River watershed is now on call.