Pueblo's Runyon Lake closing July 1-8 due to excessive littering, vandalism
Pueblo's Runyon Lake will be closed July 1-8 due to excessive trash threatening the safety of local wildlife.
The Pueblo Conservancy District board of directors voted to close the lake due to the litter, which ranges from fishing line and bait boxes to liquor bottles, fast food wrappers and needles and drug paraphernalia. Even a couple of mattresses have been dumped at the lake, where there are also signs of vandalism and graffiti.
"There are fishing lines everywhere that animals can get tangled up in," said Corinne Koehler, president of the conservancy district. "There is trash all along the shore and in the water and that lake flows into the Arkansas River."
The 35-acre lake is stocked with fish and the surrounding 40 acres of natural wildlife area is home to several varieties of birds, amphibians and mammals.
"That lake is open to the public, allowed by the goodness of the conservancy, but nobody cares. The two dumpsters are overflowing and they were just emptied Monday," Koehler said.
The entrance gate to Runyon Lake will be closed beginning Saturday and through July 8. No vehicles will be allowed on the property and the area will be monitored.
According to a news release, the Conservancy District board "did not want to take this step to address the ongoing issues, but they had no other option."
"The public needs to take responsibility to leave no trace and leave the area better than when they arrived," the release stated.
Koehler said the amount of trash is particularly egregious considering the Pueblo Friends of the Arkansas River just cleaned the area before the June 21 summer solstice and another cleanup was conducted in May as part of a national effort.
"I am sure we will have some people down there to clean up again," Koehler said.
More litter news: Pueblo's neighborhood cleanup program has collected 21 tons of trash this year
Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo's Runyon Lake to be closed July 1-8 due to trash problem
