As Dave Bennett sees it, anglers who participate in the Tuesday re-opening of Antero Reservoir can indirectly thank their neighbors for the opportunity.
“Our customers have kept water demand very low and this allowed us to refill Antero more quickly,” said Bennett, a water resource planner with Denver Water in charge of the South Platte River system.
“This points up the direct connection between conservation and water supply. If you conserve it, water can be put to other uses, such as recreation and environmental enhancement.”
After a five-year hiatus after being drained in 2002, Antero will open at 9 a.m. Tuesday. All legal angling methods are permitted, with a bag and possession limit of four trout, only one more than 16 inches.
Bennett, an enthusiastic angler, pointed to the value of Antero water that was moved downstream to Cheesman Reservoir, an important cog in Denver Water’s delivery system, in the aftermath of the Hayman fire.
“We had incredible water quality issues at Cheesman that we were able to buffer them with the water from Antero.”
