Denver Water to Drain Antero Reservoir as Drought Intensifies

Denver Water plans to drain Antero Reservoir this summer, shifting water downstream in an effort to limit evaporation losses during an ongoing, record-setting drought.

The utility, which serves about 1.5 million people across the Denver metro area, announced Monday that water from the Park County reservoir will be moved to Cheesman Reservoir, located southwest of Deckers. Officials say the move could save roughly 5,000 acre-feet of water—an amount that typically supplies three to four households per acre-foot annually.