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CPW outlines Beaver Lake augmentation, new Sam Caudill boat ramp and zebra‑mussel monitoring
Summary
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials briefed the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners on July 1 about three water‑and‑recreation items: augmentation options for Beaver Lake, completion of the Sam Caudill (Black Bridge) boat‑ramp improvements and new detections of aquatic nuisance species in the Colorado River corridor.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials briefed the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners on July 1 about three water‑and‑recreation items: augmentation options for Beaver Lake, completion of the Sam Caudill (Black Bridge) boat‑ramp improvements and new detections of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) in the Colorado River corridor.
The lake and ramp items matter because changes in water availability and recreational access affect fisheries, water users and river recreation patterns; the ANS update matters because zebra mussels and other invasive invertebrates can spread quickly and damage infrastructure and native species.
On Beaver Lake (a state wildlife area east of Marble in Gunnison County), CPW said a 2023 bathymetric survey discovered roughly 28 acre‑feet of additional volume beyond the lake’s previously decreed 72.5 acre‑feet. CPW has filed those acre‑feet in water court and is negotiating a lease with the West Divide Water Conservancy District so that additional water can be used as an augmentation source, preserving colder in‑lake water to benefit trout and reducing the need to release stored lake water to meet downstream depletions.
CPW said the Sam Caudill boat ramp — known locally as Black Bridge — has been rebuilt with a widened launch area, improved parking and a safer take‑out that now forms an eddy instead of a hazardous downstream exit. The project combined funds from CPW, Pitkin County, Garfield County, the Roaring Fork Fishing Guide Alliance and other partners; CPW staff reported that Pitkin County’s share so far has been approximately $742,484, with an expected additional $20,000–$30,000 for final landscaping. The ramp is open to the public and CPW plans a public reopening event in late July or August.
On aquatic nuisance species, CPW said agency monitoring detected zebra‑mussel veligers in a sample taken in the Colorado River upstream near Newcastle (DeBeck Canyon area). “We got confirmation back from the labs that they found zebra mussel, veligers, positive confirmation of that in a site over in Newcastle,” an agency speaker said. CPW said that until now its mandatory inspection program at Ruedi Reservoir and the Ruedi boat ramp focused on motorized craft and that non‑motorized craft (paddleboards, kayaks, rafts) had not been systematically inspected. CPW said it will expand monitoring and outreach and urged outfitters, guides and rental shops to help spread the clean‑drain‑dry message and to submit suspicious samples or request inspections for privately owned ponds and standalone lakes.
Ending: CPW asked local partners to help with outreach on ANS prevention, offered to continue technical coordination on Beaver Lake augmentation and said it will monitor performance of the new Sam Caudill ramp during summer flows.
