WSP04694

• File Number: 8281.400
• Description: Colorado River Studies and Investigations -- Colorado River Depletion Projections
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 6/1/1965
• Author: C. Jex Engineers
• Title: Report on Water Runoff and Stream Depletion of the Main Stem Colorado River Basin in Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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ROARING FORK SUBBASIN

Location and Description
The RoarinG ForI: Subbasin is the drainage basin of
the Ro~ring Fork River upstream frc,m GlemlOod Springs. The
principal tributary streams are the Roaring Fork above Aspen,
the Fryingpan River and Crystal River. The entire watershed
is above an elevation of 5, (j00 feet with a nur..ber of peaks ex-
tending to elevati'ns in excess of 14,000 feet. The unit run-
off of the subbo.sin watershed area is the highest of any in
the basin and ab'ut I?, tir.:es that of the hiddle Park subbasin.
Sixty-six percent of the subbasin is located in
Pitkin County, 13% in Eagle County, 13;; in Garfield County and
8l~ in Qunnison County. The ;;atershed area con:prises 14 .3/~ of
the river basin above the Colorado-Utah State line and produced
31.7% of the histcric runoff at the State line.
,!atershed Runoff
The average discharge of the Roaring Fork River to
the Colorado at Glenwood Springs for the 18 year study period
is 900,400 acre feet. The following table gives the annual
runoff for each year of the 18 year period.
Historic Runoff Roaring Fork Subbasin - Units 1000 Acre Feet

Year Runoff Year Runoff
1943 933.5 1953 800.1
1944 884.4 1954 477.9
1945 895.7 1955 660.8
1946 798.3 1956 717.4
1947 1,156.0 1957 1,521.0
1948 1,087.0 1958 897.4
1949 958.6 1959 736.0
1950 798.0 1960 772.4
1951 872.7
1952 1,239.0 Average 900.4
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