Landforms
Hydrologic Cycle
The field of Hydrology is primarily concerned with how water falls from the atmosphere, to the Earth; rolls downhill via gravity eventually out to the ocean and then back up into the atmosphere starting all over again. Biological processes of animals and plants have evolved over millions of years to adapt to, and depend on, when the right amount of water is available (Lutgens & Tarbuck, 2014, p. 83). The hydrologic cycle goes through many processes; This continuous cycle of water releases up into the air, forms into a cloud, rains down to the Earth and then evaporates again, repeating this continuous process. Some amount of groundwater also releases back into the atmosphere through a process called transpiration which is evaporation of water from plants. The remaining water on the earth's surface is runoff, which finds its place in the lakes, streams and rivers, which eventually enters the oceans, starting the repetition of the hydrologic cycle. (Tallman, 2011).
In Colorado, all of these concepts of the water cycle apply to the Colorado River Basin. Most of the storms that bring moisture into Colorado come from the Pacific Ocean and travel east through the atmosphere. Because of the altitude in the Rocky Mountains this moist air results in huge amounts of snow on the western slope. The Colorado River Basin is often called a snowmelt dominated system because this snow often sits in a deep snowpack until the spring when the temperature raises enough to melt the snow which creates a runoff. Lower elevations receive less snow; however in the spring and summer massive thunderstorms bring in more water, which also releases back into the air, again repeating the hydrologic cycle. The biggest use of water in Colorado is for agriculture however because most of the water falls in the mountains as snowmelt, it must be diverted to where