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Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest Watershed Vulnerability Assessment, Rocky<br />

Mountain Region (R2)<br />

areas (Cochetopa, Uncompahgre, and West Elk). The amount of available water is expected to become<br />

limiting in the Uncompahgre, Cochetopa, and West Elk geographic areas for three out of four seasons.<br />

Figure 19 displays the annual change in aridity indices for both the composite and MIROC_3.2 models,<br />

compared to the historic trend. All geographic areas are predicted to become drier. The largest changes<br />

will actually occur at the highest elevations (San Juans, Upper Taylor, and Grand Mesa) in those<br />

geographic areas with the highest precipitation. These areas also have the greatest capacity to buffer the<br />

effects of climate change because of the high levels of water produced from snowmelt and higher<br />

occurrence of aquatic habitats. These areas also support high levels of water development for human uses,<br />

so any increase in aridity could have a dramatic effect on water uses. This is potentially a very big<br />

concern in the Grand Mesa geographic area, where the annual aridity index is predicted to drop below 1.<br />

Airidity Index (mm/mm)<br />

5.0<br />

4.5<br />

4.0<br />

3.5<br />

3.0<br />

2.5<br />

2.0<br />

1.5<br />

1.0<br />

0.5<br />

0.0<br />

-­‐11.18%<br />

-­‐23.35%<br />

Historic<br />

COMP<br />

MIROC<br />

-­‐9.37%<br />

1.29<br />

-­‐18.31%<br />

-­‐11.87%<br />

1.07<br />

-­‐22.00%<br />

Figure 19. Annual Change in Aridity Index by Geographic Area<br />

0.88 0.87<br />

Geographic areas were ranked for exposure, based on the predicted changes (from the MIROC_3.2<br />

model outputs) for maximum and minimum temperatures and the annual percent change in aridity index<br />

(Table 3). A score of 1 indicates lower exposure; a score of 6 indicates higher exposure. Figure 20<br />

displays this ranking.<br />

88 Assessing the Vulnerability of Watersheds to Climate Change<br />

-­‐8.72% -­‐9.53% -­‐8.57%<br />

-­‐18.05% -­‐18.79% -­‐18.80%<br />

San Juans Upper Taylor Grand Mesa West Elk Cochetopa Uncompahgre<br />

0.75<br />

0%<br />

-­‐10%<br />

-­‐20%<br />

-­‐30%<br />

-­‐40%<br />

-­‐50%<br />

-­‐60%<br />

-­‐70%<br />

-­‐80%<br />

-­‐90%<br />

-­‐100%<br />

Percent Change (%)

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