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<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />a0213~ <br /> <br />Cl1ma.te <br /> <br />In general, the climate at the upper Gunnison River drain- <br />age basin can be described as sem1-arid. The annual average <br />precipitation varies frcm 7.7 inches at Delta, Colorado, where <br />the eJ,evation above mean sea level is about 4,900 feet, to 23 <br />inches at Crested Butte where the elevation is 8,800 feet. The <br />average annual t8llliPerature varies frOlll 51 or at Delta to 35. 8<lF <br />at Crested Butte. <br /> <br />Because of the high elevations the season between killing <br />frosts of 28<lF is short, averaging only about 80 days, The <br />seasonal distribution of precipitation is fairly uniform. Be- <br />tween December 1 and April 30, about 40 to 50 percent occprs} <br />and during the irrigation months, June through September, ',jO- to <br />35 percent occurs. . <br /> <br />A distinctive feature of the upper Gunnison River valley <br />is the comparative uniformity of weather from day to day. This <br />is due to the high mcuntains surrounding the area 'Which deflect <br />the course of low preesure conditions. A storm approaching <br />from .the west will usually cross the Continental Divide either <br />to the north or to the south of Colorado. Severe cold waves <br />are comparatively rare. There is a tendency for a stationary <br />area of high pressure to form over the basin in winter and re- <br />main for days or weeks, during which time the sky is clear, the <br />temperatures are moderately high and uniform, and the nights <br />are not excessively cold except when t~und is covered with <br />snow and where the air drainage is poor. <br /> <br />Water Rights <br /> <br />Rights to the use of water for future development in the <br />upper Gunnison River drainage basin are closely related to <br />rights of two prior Bureau of Reclamation developments in the <br />basin; the Curecanti unit of the Colorado River Storage project <br />and the Unclllllpahgre project. The Curecanti unit is described <br />in the section of this report on "Waterpower Projects-Existing <br />and Under Construction." The principal function of the unit is <br />for vater storage and hydroelectric production, but it will aleo <br />contribute scme regulated flows at Lee Ferry in northern Arizona, <br />the dividing point between the upper and lower Colorado River <br />basins, to aid in meeting requirements of the Colorado River <br />CCID\P8.ct of 1922 and the Mexican Water Treaty of 1945. By help- <br />ing to meet these requirements it will permit an increase in <br />consumptive use of vater in the upper basin for irrigation, <br />municipal, and industrial purposes. <br /> <br />9 <br />