Responding to your question based upon what happens here in the Midwest. A general rule of thumb is for every inch of trunk diameter there is a year of recovery. I am going to make a an educated guess here that if this tree was container grown and the roots were not adequately redirected, they are continuing to grow in a circular pattern. Additionally soils used for container growling intentionally drain very well, so the tree runs out of available water as you noted nearly daily. If I am even close to correct, you could try using a long spade and literally cut down through the edge of what was edge of the pot to severe roots. any regrowth from the callus tissue will not follow the circling pattern and begin to radiate out as they naturally should. this should be done at the end of growing season once dormant or eary next spring before regrowth. Doing so now will make the situation even worse. Keep it watered and also suggest providing some diluted fertilizer. For a more local response, Colorado State University Extension is available. County offices can be located at
https://extension.colostate.edu/staff-directory/?cn-s=&cn-cat=113