{"id":26220,"date":"2024-08-08T22:34:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T22:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cpw-enforcing-no-swimming-rule-at-reservoir-near-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:35:50","slug":"cpw-enforcing-no-swimming-rule-at-reservoir-near-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cpw-enforcing-no-swimming-rule-at-reservoir-near-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"CPW enforcing no-swimming rule at reservoir near Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Narraguinnep
Narraguinnep Reservoir, on Colorado Highway 184 north of Cortez. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Though people have been swimming at the Narraguinnep Reservoir for years, it\u2019s technically against the rules because it\u2019s considered a State Wildlife Area.<\/p>\n

This past weekend, on Saturday, a wildlife officer at the reservoir was making rounds to make sure boaters and paddlers were wearing life jackets.<\/p>\n

The officer also was making sure people weren\u2019t swimming, which is not a new rule, according to an email from John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman in the southwest region.<\/p>\n

\"A
A map of Narraguinnep Reservoir. (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

That comes as news to some Cortez residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been living in Cortez for about three years, and \u2026 I\u2019ve been going to Narraguinnep for 15 more years, and I\u2019ve always seen people swimming there,\u201d said Joe Crosby, a recreationist.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concern is they\u2019re taking away from the community a public access swimming area,\u201d said Crosby. \u201cIt\u2019s just kind of strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

The water in the reservoir is owned by Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co., but it\u2019s Colorado Parks and Wildlife that permits \u2013 or prohibits \u2013 certain recreation activities there, as it does at all 350 of its wildlife areas<\/a> across the state.<\/p>\n

In the Colorado State Recreation Lands booklet<\/a> put out by CPW annually, the recreation activities authorized at Narraguinnep Reservoir include boating, picnicking and wildlife viewing.<\/p>\n

The booklet does not list swimming.<\/p>\n

However, it doesn\u2019t list swimming as a restricted activity, either.<\/p>\n

Listed restrictions include limiting public access to an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset and prohibiting alcohol consumption, glass containers, camping and fires at the reservoir.<\/p>\n

Dogs must also be on a leash unless they\u2019re service animals or actively hunting.<\/p>\n

\"Rules
Rules and restrictions posted at Narraguinnep Reservoir (Cameryn Cass\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Additionally, though there are no signs expressing this at Narraguinnep right now, all boaters \u201cmust have a life jacket with them on their vessel as well as a sound-producing device such as a whistle.\u201d Children 12 years old and younger must be wearing their life jacket, Livingston said in an email.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a Colorado Parks and Wildlife rule<\/a>, among others, and Livingston said the signs that say it are being redone now. Once finished, they will be posted.<\/p>\n

\"New
New signs that will soon be posted at Narraguinnep Reservoir (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Livingston said CPW \u201ccherry picks\u201d what regulations are featured on the signs because there are 32 statewide general provisions and listing them all \u201cwould make the signs unwieldy.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those provisions encompasses what CPW calls \u201cwater contact activities,\u201d which aren\u2019t allowed unless specifically authorized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis may sound vague to the casual reader and they need to reference the definition of water contact activities listed in Chapter 9: \u201cWater contact activities\u201d means swimming, wading (except for the purpose of fishing or hunting) \u2026 and other water-related activities which put a person in contact with the water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Crosby said, \u201cObviously, if there\u2019s no supervision, people are going to do what they\u2019re going to do, so that could be a problem in the sense if they show up and start fining people.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the \u201cwildlife officer encountered adults who did not have life jackets with them and who had children without life jackets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Livingston said they\u2019ve tried to educate people for a long time and issue warnings before ticketing, \u201cbut because of compliance issues, especially as it relates to paddle boarders without life jackets, more tickets are now being issued (statewide). The tickets are $100.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nobody got a ticket at Narraguinnep on Saturday, as CPW plans to better educate the public before fining folks.<\/p>\n

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has stepped up its enforcement statewide, though, especially as it concerns life jackets, \u201cbecause of the high rate of drownings \u2026 this summer combined with the high frequency in which paddle boarders without life jackets are having to be rescued at waters around the state,\u201d Livingston said.<\/p>\n

Since March this year, at least 32 people have died in water statewide. Seventeen of these deaths were in reservoirs.<\/p>\n

Narraguinnep Reservoir isn\u2019t the only in the area following such restrictions on swimming and wading. Puett, Joe Moore, Summit, Totten and Groundhog all do too, to name a few.<\/p>\n

\u201cState Wildlife Areas are purchased with sportspersons dollars through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. Their primary purpose is for providing wildlife habitat and wildlife-based recreation such as hunting and fishing,\u201d said Livingston.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe properties are not intended solely for human recreation and are managed accordingly. However, each SWA does allow different activities depending on location and available resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Livingston recommended swimming at Mancos State Park instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not a new rule: Swimming and wading have always been prohibited, says CPW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1031,28,60,29,976,514],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-parks-and-wildlife","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-swimming"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79276,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26220\/revisions\/79276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26220"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}