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The Gunnison: A Basin In Balance CD The Gunnison Basin, located in the central western part of the state, drains nearly one-quarter of Colorado's West Slope, running from headwaters against the continental divide to a confluence with the Colorado River near Grand Junction. The basin is cradled by some of the state's most spectacular high country, including the Grand Mesa Plateau and Elk range to the north, Sawatch Range to the east, San Juan mountains to the south, and Uncompahgre Plateau to the south- west. (See map inside of front cover of this report.) The Gunnison Basin embodies what many people love about Colorado-a rural feel, a slower and more peaceful lifestyle and spectacular scenery. In short, it is a well-balanced ecosystem that supports a diverse agriculture-and recreation-based economy and provides irreplaceable habitat for riparian, wetland, and woodland species. The Upper Gunnison Basin (defined here as the mainstem Gunnison and all its tributaries upstream of Cimarron, Colorado) is the source of most of the basin's water. On average, even after human-related consumption of water, the Upper Gunnison produces over 1,227,000 acre-feet (AF).' After the North Fork, Uncompahgre, and other tributaries join the mainstem in the lower reaches of the Basin, the Gunnison's volume totals approximately 1,800,000 AF when it meets the Colorado River at Grand Junction. The natural flow of the Gunnison-if we add back the consumptive uses of water due to human use and evaporation-is considerably higher, estimated to be over 2,378,000 AF.' The Gunnison River forms at the confluence of the Taylor and East Rivers in Almont. In an average year, the heavy snowfalls in these two tributary basins con- tribute 494,000 AF.' Tomichi Creek enters the river at the City of Gunnison, adding, on average, another 128,000 AF.' Several dozen more miles downstream, the Lake Fork adds another 173,000 AF.' Other tributaries add to the Upper Basin total of just over 1. 2 million AF. Lake Fork 173,000 Gunnison Water (Acre-Feet) Other Tributaries 405,000 Taylor &Easf~ver~ 494,000 Tomichi . Creek 128,000 Gunnison Basin Water . 1 .