Even though basin irrigation methods have been practiced for millennia and are used today to irrigate more of the world's land than any other method, little research has been conducted to evaluate the hydraulic performance of basin irrigation or to develop criteria for improving present basin irrigation practices. To promote more systematic investigation, this report describes field procedures for evaluating basin irrigation performance. The procedures, tested in the Grand Valley area of Western Colorado, entail organizing a basin into a grid system. Calculations are made for each area and average figures are computed to represent the basin as a whole. In the experiment, the ground was leveled, planted with sweet corn, and irrigated five times. Each plot was monitored for inflow, discharge, depths, and corresponding times. Three methods for calculating infiltrated water depths are then described and compared. The adjusted infiltration equation and split-time infiltration methods require an infiltrometer test and the infiltration opportunity times of each grid area. The accuracy of these methods depends essentially on the accuracy of the infiltration equation developed by the cylinder infiltrometer tests. The modified volume balance technique is based on measured volumes of inflow and water surface storage at several times during the water front advance and represents the actual infiltration characteristics of the entire basin. This method's accuracy depends on the observer's visual judgment and the levelness of the basin. Although data were insufficient for extensive conclusions, analysis indicates that the modified volume balance method is highly reliable in the sense that the infiltration equations thus developed include all the attributes of both the soil and irrigation conditions. A 7-item bibliography (1942-78), a list of 68 related publications, and tables and graphs on station area, infiltration functions, advance and recession contours, applied water depths and infiltration opportunity times, estimates of applied water depths by the modified volume method, and sweet corn yield, are appended.