In general, ditch companies are private, not-for-profit companies made up of shareholders. Shareholders receive water from the ditch company and are required to pay an assessment to support ditch operations and maintenance. Both the assessments paid and amount of water received are in proportion to a shareholder’s ownership (shares) in the company. Shareholders can be individuals or institutions, such as a school district, or a government agency, such as a city or county.

A “share” refers to an interest in a ditch company. It represents a portion of water that flows through the ditch. The amount of water represented by a share varies greatly among ditch companies and from year to year, depending on how much water is available in storage and from the current year’s snowpack. 

Rules of operation vary depending on the type of water rights owned, size of the company, needs, history, infrastructure, and other factors particular to each company.

A ditch rider is hired by the ditch company to maintain the ditch and open headgates as appropriate to divert water for water deliveries in the ditch system. The ditch rider also calculates water volumes and oversees ditch operations.