The Denver area didn’t conserve enough water this summer. Now it’s taking more from the Western Slope.Denver Water’s reservoirs — the wa...

The Denver area didn’t conserve enough water this summer. Now it’s taking more from the Western Slope.
Denver Water’s reservoirs — the water storage for 1.5 million people — are far lower than normal for this time of the year. The utility has issued mandatory restrictions, which means it can also increase the amount of water it pulls from certain streams and rivers on the Western Slope for the Denver area.

But that leaves a trickle of water in Grand County rivers and creeks, and the western communities that rely on them. The Winter Park area’s water supplies will be reduced. Fish eggs can die in shallow ice, impacting environments and fishing outfitters, said Kirk Klancke, president of the Colorado River headwaters chapter of Trout Unlimited.

His main frustration? That residents in the Denver area did not do enough to conserve water this summer — and now Western Slope communities are dealing with the consequences.