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UNION BYPASS RETURN

Structure dossier · WDID 0202960 · OTHER · SOUTH PLATTE RIVER · DWR record

Union Bypass Return is a water structure on South Platte River in Colorado. This page is its public record: the water it has a right to, whether it may take it today, and its history, compiled from the Colorado Division of Water Resources.

Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR structure ↗ Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR diversion records ↗ Source Our computation, scored against a reference · scored against DWR's call analysis, see /methods

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-10-18 10:15 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260928 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (26fd646) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.

The record and the river

In short

In a median year over its last 15 recorded years it diverts 2,581 acre-feet.

Assembled from the figures on this page — every number above is checked against them before it is shown (2 checked). The detail, with its method, is in the cards below.

Download this structure

Everything on this page as data you can work with — and a README that makes it citable: the HydroBase snapshot it was built from, the build commit, what every column means, the method behind each derived figure, and that method's stated limits.

⇩ Full record (.zip) Print / save as PDF

Or one table at a time: rights.csv · annual_use.csv · curtailment_now.csv · court_cases.csv · co_parties.csv · call_climatology.csv

What is in the bundle
  • rights.csv — every decreed right, most senior first, with admin numbers, dates, amounts, uses and case numbers.
  • annual_use.csv — recorded diversion by year, with releases accounted separately.
  • curtailment_now.csv — each right's current priority status and how often it was out across analog years.
  • court_cases.csv — the cases attached to its rights.
  • co_parties.csv — the other structures that were parties to those cases. Not available anywhere else.
  • call_climatology.csv — how often each right has been out of priority by week of season, with confidence intervals and the seasons the record could actually judge.
  • README.txt — provenance, methods, limits, disclaimer, and links back to DWR's own records for verification.

Where it sits

Location as DWR records it (other). Faint dots are the neighbouring water; click any to open it.

Which of its rights are out of priority?

The outlook for the weeks ahead is not computable for this structure: no decreed right on file, so there is no priority to test.

Filings that would move water above this headgate

2 water-court applications in the monthly resumes name a structure on SOUTH PLATTE RIVER upstream of this headgate. A new right, exchange or change of use up there changes what arrives down here — the resume is the public notice, and the opposition window is how anyone affected answers it.

MonthCaseWhat it asksUpstream structuresOppose by
2025-10 2025CW3141 plan for augmentation WESTERN D CENTRAL GMS AUG RT (3.0 mi up) 2025-12-31
2024-12 2024CW3183 — MEADOW ISLAND 1 DITCH (19.3 mi up), LUPTON BOTTOM DITCH (27.3 mi up) 2025-02-28

Judged on this structure’s own named stream only — a filing on a tributary that joins upstream is not judged here. Filings that name structures only in prose, without a WDID, are invisible to this card. Reading aid, not legal advice; the deadline is computed from C.R.S. 37-92-302(3), and the court’s own notice controls.

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

Years far under the decreed amount? That gap has a name — paper water vs. wet water, explained on this structure.

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 2,581 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 1,478 AF — 57% of that, and 2nd lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.

This structure records both diversions and reservoir releases — they are separate water movements and are accounted separately below.

YearDiverted (AFA volume: one acre covered a foot deep, about 326,000 gallons -- roughly a suburban household's outdoor use for a year.)Compared with its own recordReleased (AF)Days recordedPeak (cfs)
2011 873 1st lowest of 15 · 34% of median 873 61 10.0
2012 1,605 3rd lowest of 15 · 62% of median 1,605 115 10.0
2013 4,909 15th lowest of 15 · 190% of median 4,909 230 25.0
2014 2,626 9th lowest of 15 · 102% of median 2,626 129 15.0
2015 3,007 13th lowest of 15 · 116% of median 3,007 145 110.0
2016 3,062 14th lowest of 15 · 119% of median 3,062 153 16.0
2017 2,667 11th lowest of 15 · 103% of median 2,667 154 15.7
2018 2,668 12th lowest of 15 · 103% of median 2,668 150 14.4
2019 2,665 10th lowest of 15 · 103% of median 2,665 159 13.7
2020 2,231 6th lowest of 15 · 86% of median 2,231 151 10.0
2021 2,304 7th lowest of 15 · 89% of median 2,304 158 9.2
2022 1,916 4th lowest of 15 · 74% of median 1,916 155 9.5
2023 2,196 5th lowest of 15 · 85% of median 2,196 163 12.0
2024 2,581 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 2,581 152 13.4
2025 1,478 2nd lowest of 15 · 57% of median 1,478 98 10.0

How good is our record of it?

Grade B (7/10 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not.

The rubric, component by component
CheckStateDetail
identity complete name, type, and water source all on file
decreed rights absent no water rights cached for this WDID
diversion record present 2173 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against)
record continuity continuous 76% of the irrigation seasons in 2011-2025 carry measured days
published-record stability stable no upstream revisions recorded against this structure

Advisory reading aid on public data — not an administrative or legal conclusion, not a title opinion, and not a substitute for DWR administration or an engineer's analysis. Methodology review status is disclosed at hydrohistorian's basin pages.

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