<Tr> <Th> Gunnison River </Th> <Td> CO </Td> <Td> 164 </Td> <Td> 264 </Td> <Td> 7,930 </Td> <Td> 20,500 </Td> <Td> 2,570 </Td> <Td> 73 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Virgin River </Th> <Td> NV </Td> <Td> 160 </Td> <Td> 260 </Td> <Td> 13,020 </Td> <Td> 33,700 </Td> <Td> 239 </Td> <Td> 6.8 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> In its natural state, the Colorado River poured about 16.3 million acre feet (20.1 km) into the Gulf of California each year, amounting to an average flow rate of 22,500 cubic feet per second (640 m / s). Its flow regime was not at all steady--indeed, "prior to the construction of federal dams and reservoirs, the Colorado was a river of extremes like no other in the United States ." Once, the river reached peaks of more than 100,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m / s) in the summer and low flows of less than 2,500 cubic feet per second (71 m / s) in the winter annually . At Topock, Arizona, about 300 miles (480 km) upstream from the Gulf, a maximum historical discharge of 384,000 cubic feet per second (10,900 m / s) was recorded in 1884 and a minimum of 422 cubic feet per second (11.9 m / s) was recorded in 1935 . In contrast, the regulated discharge rates on the lower Colorado below Hoover Dam rarely exceed 35,000 cubic feet per second (990 m / s) or drop below 4,000 cubic feet per second (110 m / s). Annual runoff volume has ranged from a high of 22.2 million acre feet (27.4 km) in 1984 to a low of 3.8 million acre feet (4.7 km) in 2002, although in most years only a small portion of this flow, if any, reaches the Gulf . </P> <P> Between 85 and 90 percent of the Colorado River's discharge originates in snowmelt, mostly from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming . The three major upper tributaries of the Colorado--the Gunnison, Green, and San Juan--alone deliver almost 9 million acre feet (11 km) per year to the main stem, mostly from snowmelt . The remaining 10 to 15 percent comes from a variety of sources, principally groundwater base flow and summer monsoon storms . The latter often produces heavy, highly localized floods on lower tributaries of the river, but does not often contribute significant volumes of runoff . Most of the annual runoff in the basin occurs with the melting of Rocky Mountains snowpack, which begins in April and peaks during May and June before exhausting in late July or early August . </P>

Where does the colorado river empty into the ocean