JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — This weekend’s heat could break records in Colorado, and boaters and paddleboarders are ready to cool off on the water.
Ahead of the first day of summer and more people getting outside, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and environmental groups like Roaring Fork Conservancy are working to spread the message to all who recreate on lakes, rivers and reservoirs to "Clean, Drain and Dry" all gear after a day on the water to to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic nuisance species (ANS).
“Without sounding too alarmist, our water bodies are really at threat,” Rick Lofaro, executive director of Roaring Fork Conservancy, told Denver7 on Thursday. “Once [those species are] here, it's too late, so we're really trying to prevent it from ever getting here.”
A zebra mussel infestation discovered in 2022 forced CPW to drain Highline Lake near Grand Junction. Last year, zebra mussels in the larval stage were found in the Colorado River in DeBeque Canyon.
CPW said these species can reproduce rapidly and wreak havoc on everything from man-made water infrastructure to fish, wildlife and the water itself.
“Make sure that you're responsible in cleaning your gear, and if you have the opportunity to thoroughly dry it in between uses, that's the best thing because these aquatic nuisance species will eventually dry up and die if they're out of the water,” said Locarno.
According to Locarno, reservoirs needing to be drained for an infestation tend to take at least three years to be filled with water again.
CPW has installed 10 new gear cleaning stations, with 10 more slated to be deployed across the state. On its website, CPW provides an interactive map of current and future wader and boat cleaning stations across the state.
Paddleboarder Jonathan Belcher calls time at Chatfield Reservoir on a hot day “a breath of fresh air.” When it comes to cleaning gear after getting out of the water, he said, “I try to take it pretty seriously.”
“Growing up, I've always been taught to respect the land and clean up after ourselves,” he said Thursday. “I feel like Colorado is better than some other places because there's a lot of folks here that respect the land, but there's always those people that don't. It's always a good encouragement to try and push for more people to pick up the effort there.”
