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The Gunnison: <br />A Basin In Balance <br />The Gunnison Basin, located in the central western part <br />of the state, drains nearly one-quarter of Colorado's West Slope, <br />running from headwaters against the continental divide to a <br />confluence with the Colorado River near Grand Junction. The <br />basin is cradled by some of the state's most spectacular high <br />country, including the Grand Mesa Plateau and Elk range to the north, Sawatch Range <br />to the east, San Juan mountains to the south, and Uncompahgre Plateau to the south- <br />west. (See map inside of front cover of this report.) <br />The Gunnison Basin embodies what many people love about Colorado-a <br />rural feel, a slower and more peaceful lifestyle and spectacular scenery. In short, it is <br />a well-balanced ecosystem that supports a diverse agriculture-and recreation-based <br />economy and provides irreplaceable habitat for riparian, wetland, and woodland <br />species. <br />The Upper Gunnison Basin (defined here as the mainstem Gunnison and all <br />its tributaries upstream of Cimarron, Colorado) is the source of most of the basin's <br />water. On average, even after human-related consumption of water, the Upper <br />Gunnison produces over 1,227,000 acre-feet (AF).' After the North Fork, <br />Uncompahgre, and other tributaries join the mainstem in the lower reaches of the <br />Basin, the Gunnison's volume totals approximately 1,800,000 AF when it meets the <br />Colorado River at Grand Junction. The natural flow of the Gunnison-if we add back <br />the consumptive uses of water due to human use and evaporation-is considerably <br />higher, estimated to be over 2,378,000 AF.Z <br />The Gunnison River forms at the confluence of the Taylor and East Rivers in <br />Almont. In an. average year, the heavy snowfalls in these two tributary basins con- <br />tribute 494,000 AF.' Tomichi Creek enters the river at the City of Gunnison, adding, <br />on average, another 128,000 AF." Several dozen more miles downstream, the Lake <br />Fork adds another 173,000 AE' Other tributaries add to the Upper Basin total of just <br />over 1.2 million AF. <br />Gunnison Basin Water • 1