PUEBLO — The Pueblo Conservancy District board of directors decided to close the entrance gate to Runyon Lake from July 1 - July 8 to address the ongoing issues of trash, vandalism, drug use, and graffiti.
Runyon Lake in Pueblo is located off Santa Fe Avenue on Locust Street. The parking lot is not accessible as no vehicles are allowed on the property and the area is monitored.
Visitors have left behind fishing lines, bait boxes, liquor bottles, household trash, mattresses, fast food wrappers, needles, and other drug paraphernalia.
Dumpsters were supplied at Runyon Lake, but the amount of trash and in the water continued with no reduction. It is left to be cleaned up by volunteers.
Runyon Lake is surrounded by a natural wildlife habitat that covers around 40 acres of its total 35 acres. Numerous different bird, amphibian, and mammal species live there, and the lake is supplied with fish.
The Conservancy District board was reluctant to take this action, but they had little choice if they were to solve the problems that were still present.
"The public needs to take responsibility to leave no trace and leave the area better than when they arrived," said The Pueblo Conservancy District.
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