County to oversee Rueter-Hess Reservoir recreation

Will boost access

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Douglas County is poised to take charge of recreation at a major body of water in the county in an arrangement that will allow for more access, county o cials say.

at means more time for paddleboarding, canoeing and kayaking starting with this year’s water recreation season at Rueter-Hess Reservoir near Parker and Castle Pines. O cials also plan to eventually o er recreational shing.

Opportunities to enjoy the reservoir area will expand based on an agreement by the county and the municipalities that sit near the water, providing more sta and a streamlined nancial structure for overseeing recreation.

“Combining partner contributions into one budget makes sense, and it maxes our potential,” said Amy Knopp, a county recreation o cial, speaking to Douglas County’s elected leaders about the changes to the partnership among the county and municipalities.

e reservoir is a drinking-water storage facility owned and operated by the Parker Water and Sanitation District, the entity that provides drinking water to much of Parker and some nearby areas. But RueterHess also serves as a recreation spot for residents in a part of the Denver metro area where the terrain starts to as a place for “history bu s, day hikers, dog walkers, water-sport enthusiasts, and local anthropologists alike,” the county website says. e partners — Parker Water, the and the county — later started working on a new agreement in 2022 to name the county as the managing jurisdiction for recreation at the reservoir.

Long time in the making e reservoir stands as a relatively new feature of the area. From the 1990s through 2012, the planning and construction of the reservoir occurred, according to Knopp.

And in 2015, partners formed the Rueter-Hess Recreation Authority and began planning for recreation at the reservoir, Knopp said.

With Douglas County at the helm, the new structure is expected to ll a need for sta to oversee recreation.

“ e absence of dedicated sta made it di cult to move forward on program implementation,” county sta said in a statement through a spokesperson.

After approving the new agreement, “we will hire the necessary sta to deliver recreation and maintenance” for the reservoir area, Knopp told county commissioners at their March 28 meeting. Sta will be funded with money the partners contribute, Knopp said.

County commissioners voted to approve the new agreement at the meeting.

Recent additions e partner local governments share the goal of expanding access to recreation at the reservoir while not harming the water quality, Knopp said.

“ is summer, the county is increasing access to paddleboarding, canoeing, kayaking to four days per week,” Knopp said. “In the coming years, the county and its partners look forward to providing even more access.” e county and its partners are working on a plan to include shing once they clear procedural hurdles.

Recreation at the reservoir has been steadily expanding. In 2017, public access began with guided hikes and paddle days on the reservoir, a county sta report says. e incline and Newlin Gulch Trail opened in 2020. e trail system expanded to 6 1/2 miles of natural surface trails in 2022 with the completion of the Coyote Loop Trail. e incline features 132 steps, and the Rosie Rueter Trail loop that leads to and from the parking lot is just over a mile long, the Rueter-Hess recreation website says.

Last year, 64,000 people used the trail system, and about 1,500 people participated in paddle days, the county sta report says.

“Parker Water and Sanitation — as the owner of the water — must rst authorize shing, and they are currently working with the state on

Along the way to building the reservoir, the land was the site of archaeological intrigue. Artifacts uncovered at the reservoir site within the last couple decades provided insight into civilizations of paleo-Indians and hunter-gatherers who lived in the area thousands of years ago, Colorado Community Media reported previously.

How funding works e partner governments have been funding and will continue to fund recreation at the reservoir area, Knopp said at the meeting. e payment amounts are $250,000 from Douglas County, $210,000 from Castle Rock, $210,000 from Parker, $100,000 from Castle Pines and $100,000 from Lone Tree.

Annually, the partners contribute $870,000 toward recreation, the county sta report says.

Under the new agreement, the Rueter-Hess Recreation Authority — the body that includes Parker Water, Castle Rock, Parker, Castle Pines, Lone Tree and Douglas County — gets restructured into an advisory board rather than a managing entity.

Moving forward, the advisory board will make recommendations to the Douglas County commissioners about recreation planning and budgeting, and the county will carry out the plans and manage the budget.

Designating the county as the managing jurisdiction for recreation at the reservoir allows for a “streamlined process” for decision making, county sta said in the statement.

“Under an ‘authority’ structure, associated accounting and legal overhead was required,” the statement said. e new structure allows the partners’ investment to go directly into operations and recreational access, the statement adds.

“ e funding is $870,000 annually from the partners (and) remains the same” as part of the agreement, the statement said.

In addition to the annual funding, the recreation authority will transfer about a $2 million recreation fund to the county, Knopp said. ose funds will support major maintenance and improvement projects. e county will also receive “ xed assets” that are valued at about $2 million, she said.