Missouri Basin and Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas Gulf Regions

Pueblo Resource Management Plan

Reclamation owns Pueblo Reservoir and the surrounding lands that make up Lake Pueblo State Park. Lake Pueblo State Park is managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). Reclamation proposed to revise the existing 1981 Pueblo Reservoir Resource Management Plan (1981 RMP) to guide future recreation activity.

The Pueblo Reservoir Resource Management Plan (Pueblo Reservoir RMP) replaces the 1981 RMP to address current and future resources needs identified during the RMP planning process from 2014 through 2019. Major components of the adopted RMP include addressing recreational uses, mountain biking, and unauthorized trails. As part of the RMP, Reclamation incorporated the 2019 Trail Management Plan developed by CPW to address ongoing impacts associated with unauthorized trails in the RMP planning area.

Reclamation prepared a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Pueblo Reservoir Resource Management Plan. Documents can be downloaded at:

• Lake Pueblo State Park and Pueblo Reservoir State Wildlife Area Resource Management Final Environmental Assessment
• Lake Pueblo State Park and Pueblo Reservoir State Wildlife Area Resource Management Plan Fryingpan-Arkansas Project Finding of No Significant Impact
• Appendix A - RMP Planning Area Maps
• Appendix B - Pueblo Reservoir RMP
• Appendix C - Lake Pueblo Trail Management Plan
• Appendix D - Best Management Practices
• Appendix E - Comments and Responses on the Draft Environmental Assessment

For more information on the Pueblo Reservoir RMP, please contact Tara Piper, Natural Resource Specialist at 970-461-5481 or tpiper@usbr.gov. The RMP is included as Appendix B.

Background Information

On January 22, 2014, Reclamation and CPW hosted a public open house to collect comments on possibilities for recreation improvement across Lake Pueblo State Park. Seven poster displays were used to illustrate areas under consideration. Reclamation collected public input through February 21, 2014.

In 2015, the planning process was put on hold, due to issues raised by the public and Reclamation concerning approximately 50 miles of unauthorized social trails in Management Unit 4-South Shore of Pueblo Reservoir. Safety was a concern due to erosion and degradation associated these unauthorized trails. In the fall of 2015, Reclamation and CPW completed an assessment of the trails, which documented natural and cultural resource impacts from the unauthorized trails. Due to the extensive expansion of unauthorized trails during the past decade on both the north and south side of Pueblo Reservoir, a separate Trail Management Plan was necessary. Over the next three years, CPW collected additional natural resource data and developed a Trail Management Plan through a public process with a final plan completed in May 2019.