As a severe drought encompasses the mid-western United States, Coloradans will start to see its impacts on fishing, boating and other reservoir recreation this spring.

In May, Denver Water officials will drain Antero Reservoir, a popular fishing spot, pushing anglers and boaters towards Eleven Mile and Spinney Mountain reservoirs in Park County. A system of reservoirs owned by Colorado Springs Utilities also has been impacted by the extreme drought — some reservoirs are lower, while others are completely dry due to the lack of snow.

“We are really looking at historic lows when it comes to our reservoirs,” said Patrice Lehermeier, a spokeswoman for Utilties.

Both Denver Water and Colorado Springs Utilities are bracing, albeit in different ways, for potential months — maybe even years — of drought.

Over the weekend, Denver announced the eventual closing of Antero Reservoir, which has an evaporation rate double that of Denver’s other reservoirs. The reservoir was opened in 1909, and has been drained twice — in 1996 for cleaning, and in 2002 during a drought that lasted five years, said Denver Water spokesman Travis Thompson. In 2002, the reservoir was emptied of fish and remained barren and dry until 2007, when the fish population was reintroduced. This spring, to help clear the reservoir of fish, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is allowing anglers to take home eight fish instead of two; by May first, they will start draining the reservoir.

Reopening Antero will be a question of future snowpack levels above the reservoir, said Jennifer Churchill, a spokeswoman for Parks and Wildlife.

“Basically we would look to have the reservoir at least 75 percent full — that’s 16 feet high,” she said on Tuesday. Fishing would be banned during the first year that reservoir is re-opened, while it is restocked with fish, Churchill added.

The decision to empty Antero will have a ripple effect for popular reservoirs in the Pikes Peak region and west into South Park. Eleven Mile reservoir, near Lake George, will be lowered in the next couple of weeks to make room for the waters of Antero, Thompson said. While the Eleven Mile might seem low during April, waters should rise again once Antero begins to empty. Eleven Mile, however, is one of two drought reservoirs owned by Denver Water, the reserves of which are only tapped in cases of extreme drought, Thompson said. This spring, Antero, the other drought reserve, will be empty, and Denver Water expects to start tapping Eleven Mile in the next few weeks.

With the flow of Antero reservoir waters into other reservoirs should come a rush of anglers, said Tim Hannan, retail manager at the fishing shop Angler’s Covey in Colorado Springs.

“It’s definitely going to affect fishing,” Hannan said on Tuesday.

Antero is usually an ideal fishing spot — the boating is great, and good fishing spots are close to parking areas, Hannan explained. Eleven Mile, on the otherhand, is “a great reservoir,” but has high winds, and not many spots where anglers can easily get out of the water when a storm blows in, Hannan said. That leaves anglers will only one alternative when it comes of Park County reservoirs.

“They are going to crowd Spinney,” Hannan said.

But even Spinney might not be the promising option that the angling community desires. A month ago, officials with Spinney Mountain and Eleven Mile state park sent an email to licensed anglers warning that the reservoir may close to trailered boats due to increasingly low water levels. Officials at the park did not return a phone call seeking updated information.

Colorado Springs Utilities has been watching its reservoirs drop as the drought progressed, but it will handle things differently than Denver Water, said Lehermeier.

“We are typically moving water in and out of most systems,” Lehermeier said. “There isn’t one that we set aside for a non-rainy day, so to speak.”

But the system of reservoirs that support El Paso County are showing signs of the dry season. Rampart, North and South Catamount reservoirs all are expected to be lower this year. Two other utilities-owned reservoirs in the Blue River water system near Breckenridge are drought impacted — the Upper Blue reservoir, another popular angling spot, is empty. Although the reservoir accounts for a smaller amount of utilties’ water, the fact that it’s empty is a red flag, Lehermeier said.

But for local fisherman Kenny Romero, who tries to be on the water at least three days a week year round, the prognosis for anglers is not yet so grim. He is Hannan’s go-to man for still-water angling, and his specialty is Spinney Mountain reservoir.

“There’s still slack that can be taken up from the loss of Antero,” he said on Tuesday. “People just maybe need to reach out in other areas that they normally wouldn’t fish.”

Romero encouraged anglers to visit the myriad of reservoirs that will remain open in the region throughout the summer, and in places like Spinney Mountain, where trailered boats could be banned, he encouraged anglers to try new methods.

“This may be an opportunity to look at other fishing techniques,” he said.

Romero is confident that as long as there is water somewhere, there will be good fishing. But there will be fewer spots to share, he said.

“It’s going to be crowded,” he said. “We don’t have as much room.”

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Contact Ryan Maye Handy: 636-0261

Twitter @ryanmhandy