CPW investigating fatal boating accident at Prewitt Reservoir
Kara Van Hoose
July 8, 2025
CPW investigating fatal boat accident at Prewitt Reservoir
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife is investigating a fatal boating accident at Prewitt Reservoir State Wildlife Area Tuesday afternoon.
Around 1:30 p.m., witnesses reported to CPW seeing two adult men launching a boat onto Prewitt Reservoir, with one man in the boat and the other man on the dock. As the boat started to drift away, the man on the dock jumped into the water to swim out to the boat. According to witnesses, the man started to struggle while swimming and went underwater. Witnesses told CPW the person in the boat jumped into the reservoir to swim towards the other man. He also started to struggle and was rescued by another boat. Neither man was wearing a life jacket.
CPW officers used multiple boats with sonar to search for the missing man, assisted by divers with the Sterling Fire Department. He was recovered around 3:15 p.m. Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Colorado State Patrol also responded to the scene.
The Washington County Coroner will release the identity of the victim and cause of death.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.
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