The Roaring Fork Watershed is located in central Colorado on the west side of the Continental Divide. The watershed includes the Sawatch, Collegiate and Elk Ranges and eight 14,000 foot peaks. Melting snow in these headwaters collects and joins one of three main rivers (Roaring Fork, Fryingpan, and Crystal) and drains to the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs at an elevation of 5,916 feet. Encompassing an area of 1,451 square miles, the Roaring Fork Watershed is approximately the size of Rhode Island. Part of the larger Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to over 30 million people in the arid southwest, the Roaring Fork Watershed contributes about 940,000 acre feet or 306 billion gallons of water each year to the Colorado River!