watervulnerability

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest Watershed Vulnerability Assessment, Rocky
Mountain Region (R2)
in cubic feet per second per acre of subwatershed ranged from 0 to 0.3). Figure 9 shows approximate
locations where water rights occur in the WVA analysis area. NOTE: Many water rights locations in the
state’s data are based on approximate quarter quad descriptions and not actual coordinates.
Water Rights Structures - count of structures associated with each quantified water right per acre of
subwatershed. The state’s data identify the type of structures associated with each water right. This varies
among ditch, well, reservoir, pipeline, spring box and pump. There are 9,775 structures associated with
water rights, with counts per acre of subwatershed ranging from 0 to 0.01.The water rights locations in
Figure 9 are the approximate locations of these structures.
Figure 9. Water Rights
Surface Source Water Protection Areas - percent of source water protection area on GMUG by
watershed. A number of communities rely on surface and groundwater originating on the GMUG NFs for
their public drinking water supplies. Analysis of surface community water supplies previously conducted
for the Forest plan revision process was used for this WVA. This analysis was limited to lands within the
GMUG. There are a total of 18 surface water providers (32 separate systems or source water areas) that
include at least some GMUG-administered lands. These source areas include portions of one or more
subwatersheds on the GMUG. The source areas range from 500 acres to over 2 million acres in size, with
the proportion lying within GMUG NFs varying from approximately 4% to 100%. Generally, the greater
the proportion of NF lands in a source water area, the greater the potential to be directly affected by
Forest Service land use and management activities. GMUG lands are considered the principal source of
water where 70% or more of the total supply area lies within the Forest boundary. Forest-wide that
includes 21 separate systems (managed by 16 providers), totaling approximately 1,038,000 acres. Figure
10 shows subwatersheds where greater than 70% of a given source water protection area is on the Forest
in pink. Portions of the GMUG that are included in source water areas where less than 70% is on the
Forest are shown in green.
75 Assessing the Vulnerability of Watersheds to Climate Change