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<br />< d' <br /> <br />llD2!51 <br /> <br />Chapter I <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />In 1988, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) established the Global Climate Change <br />Response Program (GCCRP). Through the GCCRP, and in cooperation with other Federal <br />agencies, Reclamation is conducting research on the potential impacts of changing climates on <br />water resources in the Western United States. Research work presented in this document is part of <br />the GCCRP research project entitled "Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change on the <br />Gunnison River Basin" (Gunnison Climate Study). <br /> <br />OVERVIEW OF THE GUNNISON CLIMATE STUDY <br /> <br />The Gunnison Climate Study began in 1991 as a multiyear cooperative study between Reclamation <br />and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to assess the effects of changing climates on Western <br />river basins. The Gunnison River Basin was selected as a study area because many of its physical <br />attributes, as well as the contemporary waler resource management issues it poses, are <br />representative of other Western river basins. <br /> <br />At the inception of the Gunnison Climate Study, the research objectives for the study were as <br />follows: <br /> <br />I. Investigate and characterize the natural hydrologic system in the Gunnison River <br />Basin. Develop physically based rainfall nmoff models with which to simulate this natural <br />system. <br /> <br />2. Assess the potential effects of changing climates on natural streamflows in the <br />Gunnison River Basin. <br /> <br />3. Investigate and quantify the uses of water in the Gunnison River Basin. Develop <br />water resource planning models which simulate the storage, diversion, and consumptive <br />use of water ,n the Gunnison River Basin. <br />