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C\J C') C') .-oj In appralslng opportunities for the development of the water and related land resources of the Gunnison River Basin, program coordination is necessary in order to assure that proposed project development opportunities complement each other and provide for coordinated development of the resources of the Basin. Proposed Bureau of Reclamation projects have been recognized in making this study and are included in the analysis. In addition to the proposed Bureau of Reclamation projects, several project-type development opportunities have been identified where USDA authorities can be utilized. These projects would complement the major water projects in the Basin by further developing the water and land resources and by making the best use of improvements provided by other programs. Chief among these project possibilities are opportunities pro- vided in the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (P. L. 566, 83rd Congress, as ameria~d). This report points out eighteen project opportunities in the Gunnison Basin where P. L. 566 project-type opportunities have been identified. These include water storage projects, flood prevention projects and combi- nation multiple purpose-type projects. Cost and benefit determinations have not been made on these projects; however, on the basis of reconnaissance inspection, which eliminated obviously unsuitable proposals, these project opportunities appear to be feasible and might be developed if group-type action were taken by local sponsoring groups. In addition to these potential P. L. 566 prpjects, several other project development opportunities have been identified where other USDA authorities could be utilized. Average annual undepleted water supply of the Gunnison River Basin for the 1943-60 study period was 2,175,000 acre-feet. This varied from about 1,130,000 acre-feet to more than 3,600,000 acre-feet. Annual consumption of water in the Basin for this same period averaged 468,400 acre-feet. Major use of water was for the irrigation of 264,000 acres of land. Average annual discharge of water from the Basin was 1,706,500 acre-feet. Water resources within the Basin are adequate to meet the water supply needs for the development of proposed projects. These include Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects, USDA P. L. 566 project possibilities, other USDA potential projects, plus increased demand for additional muni- cipal, domestic, recreational and other uses. With these proposed develop- ments, an average of about 655,500 acre-feet of water would be consumed in the Basin annually. This would include water for the irrigation of 323,800 acres of land. Average annual discharges of water from the Basin with proposed developments would be 1,519,400 acre-feet. Potential industrial requirements are not included in this report. The principal use of the irrigated land in the Basin is for the produc- tion of feed for livestock. Irrigated forage crops and Federal and private rangeland complement each other in the production of livestock feed. General cash-crops, specialized fruit crops, and some vegetable ii