Access to Colorado waterways is being unnecessarily restricted.

Summertime in the Centennial state means lots of sunny days and hot temperatures that often reach or exceed 100 degrees—but finding a place to cool down or participate in aquatic activities along the Front Range is more challenging than it needs to be. 

In recent years; swimmers, sailors, waterskiers, and wakeboarders have lost access to major lakes in the Denver metro area. Swimming, watersports, and boating have been banned at Sloan’s Lake and also Standley Lake due to concerns around silting, water quality, and invasive species. These are all legitimate concerns that need to be properly researched and addressed. However, it has led to more and more water lovers crammed into fewer and fewer lakes—Chatfield and Cherry Creek State Parks often reach capacity.

So what is the solution?

There have been efforts to remediate the South Platte River and other Denver waterways in recent years, with the hopes of improving water quality enough to allow for safe swimming. While Mayor Hancock’s 2013 vision of making Denver’s lakes and streams swimmable by 2020 was a miss, we hope that these remediation efforts continue. Many Denver residents may not know that other local waterways, like Berkeley Lake, used to be open to swimming in the past. Sloan’s Lake was a beloved home to aquatic recreation for 100 years before its closure during the COVID pandemic that was made permanent in 2021. We hope remediation efforts continue there as well. 

However, there is a much more obvious solution.

Denver Water manages seven reservoirs in central Colorado. Among these seven reservoirs, recreation opportunities vary widely. Some do not allow any water contact, some allow paddle crafts only, and some allow powerboating / sailing—but none of them allow swimming or water contact sports. 

Why is this?

Many Coloradans mistakenly believe that the reason is due to water quality concerns from human contact with our drinking water supply. However, this is not the case. First, that logic quickly falls apart when we consider gasoline powered boats, birds, fish, bugs, and mammals all touch the waters of our reservoirs every day. Denver Water has publicly confirmed that this is not the reason behind swimming bans. The real reason, according to Denver Water, is that their waterways are too cold. Again, this rationale does not hold up to even the most basic level of scrutiny. Let’s consider the following:

1. The Colorado River, Grand Lake, and Green Mountain Reservoir are all open to swimming and watersports despite being just minutes down the road from multiple Denver Water reservoirs (and having similar weather and water temperatures). Thousands of Coloradans safely enjoy these similarly cold waterways every year.
   
   
2. Other Colorado waterways, such as Chatfield and Cherry Creek reservoirs are enjoyed by many in the Spring months of April, May, and June, when water temperatures are far colder than what one would find at Denver Water’s mountain reservoirs during summer months.
   
   
3. Cold plunging is skyrocketing in popularity, and has been shown to have great health benefits—cold water can be a good thing. And for those who are less hardy, cold water temperatures can be easily mitigated via wetsuits or drysuits—garments that are used worldwide to allow for safe recreation in even the coldest water temperatures and weather conditions. 

The idea that Denver Water’s reservoirs are too cold for swimming and watersports simply does not make sense. It is akin to closing Colorado’s alpine peaks during the winter to hikers, skiers, and snowboarders because they’re “too cold,” rather than allowing participants to evaluate the conditions, dress accordingly, and safely enjoy the outdoors.

We, the water-loving community of Colorado, call on Denver Water to open Dillon, Antero, Williams Fork, and Eleven Mile Reservoirs to swimming and watersports for 2025. These reservoirs already allow powerboating and paddle crafts, presenting the most seamless options for increased recreational access. 

If there are other concerns to opening these waterways beyond cold temperatures, we would like them clearly and openly communicated so that solutions can be discussed.