Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are citing low water levels in Lake Loveland as the cause of 500 dead sucker fish discovered this week.

 The city of Loveland says there is a chance the reservoir may not fill this year.

“This year for sure, it’s really low,” said Cayce Stevens, a local resident who frequently walks his dog near the lake.

CPW identified the dead fish as sucker fish, a native species, and cited reduced lake volume as a probable cause.

“I’m guessing they just didn’t have enough space,” said Nathan Alburn, a water resource engineer for the city.

Lake Loveland is not owned or operated by the city, despite its name. Alburn explained that the Greeley Loveland Irrigation Company oversees the lake’s water management.

Dan Kammerzell, the general manager at the irrigation company told the Denver Gazette that the low water levels can be attributed to Colorado’s amount of storage water, which he says is lower than previous years.

According to Kammerzell, the fish swam up a stream that was disconnected from the rest of the water supply, and swam into an inlet during a time period in which they were not adding water to the reservoir. 

The amount of water allocated to fill the lake is up to the State, but due to rain over the weekend, Kammerzell says they have been able to bring in more water.

The swim beach at Lake Loveland is currently closed. According to the City of Loveland’s website due to a revenue shortfall, “The City no longer has funding or staff capacity to continue the same service level for many services that we provide, including the Lake Loveland Swim Beach.”

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