TWIN LAKES — For decades, a beloved pond on the outskirts of town served as a quiet thinking and fishing spot for locals and an oft-photographed stop for road-tripping tourists hoping to capture Colorado’s rugged beauty. Photos of the pond, with its surface reflecting a historic barn and snowcapped peaks, adorn postcards, puzzles and tourism articles promoting Twin Lakes — as well as the now accused of draining the same picturesque pond and surrounding wetlands. In May, locals noticed the pond’s water levels declining.
Now, nothing but a mud pit remains. The drying of the pond and the channel that feeds it has caused a rift in tiny Twin Lakes, home to a handful of inns, a general store, a saloon and about 300 people. The historic town 20 miles south of Leadville, along with its two larger namesake reservoirs, are a haven for campers, hikers and anglers.
The town also serves as a stopping point for people traveling to Aspen over Independence Pass. “We had no notice, no warning, no input,” Jennifer Schubert-Akin, a 17-year homeowner in Twin Lakes, said of the developer’s drying of the pond. “It’s kind of like giving us the middle finger.
” The dry pond prompted some residents to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to investigate the developer, AngelView at Twin Lakes, and to lobby county officials to deny final approval of the development’s plans.
The developer, Alan Elias, said he and his company did nothing wrong when they blocked the water from flowing .