LOVELAND, Colo. — What looked like a typical summer afternoon at Boyd Lake State Park quickly told a different story.
Boats were still on the water, families were enjoying the sunshine, and the parking lot remained busy. But a walk to the main boat ramp revealed just how much the lake has shrunk.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the water level has dropped about 20 to 25 feet, exposing shoreline that is normally underwater. Along the way, broken cell phones were visible beneath the lake.
"It's down," said Boyd Lake State Park Manager Lauren Turpin.
The low water is also making it more difficult for boaters to launch and retrieve their boats. Some visitors were forced to drag their boats across the exposed shoreline to reach the ramp.
Because of the low water levels, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is closing the park's main boat ramp for the remainder of the season, beginning Sunday at 9 p.m.
"If we can't get our patrol boat out to help people who are in need, then it's really not safe to be motor boating and using power boats," Turpin said.
Turpin said the drought is largely to blame.
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"We get water from the Big Thompson, and when there was no snow over the winter and no rain over the spring, there's really no water to share for any of the lakes that are in our path," she said.
She added Boyd Lake may be one of the first major state reservoirs to close a boat ramp because of low water, but she doesn't expect it will be the last.
"A lot of reservoirs and lakes are hurting for water, and I think that's just so apparent with the drought," Turpin said.
The closure is disappointing for many visitors and some boat repair businesses.
At Cook's Auto Spa & Boat Repair in Loveland, owner Paul Cook says he's already shifting his business earlier than usual into winter repair work because fewer people are taking their boats out.
"I had to shift gears and start doing bigger projects that I'd normally do in the winter," Cook said.
He says many customers have decided to keep their boats covered for the rest of the year rather than head to the lake.
"I've seen a lot of people that I do every year, and they're just not going to take their boats out this year," he said.
Cook is hoping for a snowy winter.
"More snowpack next year," he said.
That hope was echoed by visitors at Boyd Lake.
"We'll hopefully get some water next year, all the lakes will be full, and we can get back to normal recreation."
