Sampling Location: Fruitland Bridge 4000 120,000 100,000 Event #3 3000 Discharge (cfs) Turbidity (FNU) ~4 days SSC (mg/L) 80,000 2000 60,000 40,000 1000 Jeb Brown 20,000 JebBrown@usgs.gov 0 0 9/27 9/28 9/29 9/30 10/1 10/2 Julie Korak Date JKorak@usbr.gov
SOIL & SEDIMENT RESULTS By K. Chief, Assoc Prof & Ext Sp. A R S E N I C • ALL Ag and canal sediment met Ag Guideline ALL River sediment met Aquatic and Residential Guidelines • L E A D • ALL Ag soil met Residential Guideline • Nearly ALL Ag soil met Ag Guideline • ALL canal sediment met Ag and Residential Guidelines • Nearly ALL River sediment met Aquatic Guideline BEWARE NEED MORE INFO OK
Human1Bacteria Quantification Jaclynn Fallon, San Juan Watershed Group 1 2 3 4 San Juan River at Hogback had significantly higher human bacteria than all other sites 7 5 6
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Research Focus Area • Reaches: 12.1, 12.2, & 22 Features • 280 miles of pipeline • 2 treatment plants • Several pumping plants 2 Laterals • San Juan (red line) • Cutter (yellow & green) Bernadette Fontenelle
The Holy Corn Pollen Path and the Gold King Mine Spill “We as Navajo people view all things as having life and draw no distinction between the abiotic and biotic. In our holy songs we sing about being children of the earth. We were made from ears of corn and the big wind gave us life. Water is revered and held sacred. The rivers carry our prayers and are integral part of ceremonial life. When the Gold King Mine Spill happened it affected a holy part of our world, the San Juan. We watched our children, the corn and plants die. We need the water and plants in our ceremonies to restore balance and harmony to our world. Without being sure of the sanctity of our water and plants, our holy corn pollen path has been disrupted. That why I believe our work is vital to revitalizing our farming way of life and reconnecting to our Mother the Earth. Hózhó .” Brandon Francis NMSU Agricultural Science Center
Particle-bound Metals in San Juan Watershed Animas River McElmo Creek La Plata River Los Piños River Mancos River Piedra River Time Magazine UT San Juan CO River Delta AZ San Juan River NM Lake Powell Chaco Creek Chinle Creek Steve Austin, NNEPA Steve Austin, NNEPA Logan Frederick, University of Utah
GROUNDWATER LEVEL MONITORING 107°57'W 107°56'W 107°55'W along the Animas River, New Mexico, after the B Fall water table 5754.51 4,088,000 ( ! 5736.54 Gold King Mine 2015 mine-water release 5760 5728.46 5740 Ethan Mamer, Talon Newton, Stacy Timmons 5733.92 5780 ( ! 5725.31 ! ( • Most of Animas River has gaining ( ! 5739.21 4,087,000 ! ( Inca ! ( " " 5729.98 ( ! conditions. ! ( 5740.39 5730 5 • 5729.28 7 Seasonal fluctuations in river stage 3 5 ! ( ( ! 5723.55 ! ( ( ! and water levels are enough to 4,086,000 5739.59 £ ¤ 5731.62 reverse groundwater/ surface water 5 5 0 5727.34 5 ( ! 5732.03 2 7 0 2 5 7 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 mi flow direction. 5 5734.37 ( ! 237,000 238,000 239,000 240,000 • Potential for future contamination from 107°57'W 107°56'W 107°55'W / lingering sediments, and reversals in 5760 B Spring water table 4,088,000 5736.3 groundwater flow ! ( 5728.92 • The river and the groundwater in the 5732.84 5780 5723.61 ! ! ( valley are hydrologically connected. ( ! ! ( ! 4,087,000 ! ( • 5724.86 5 Inca ! ( The irrigation ditch water is feeding 7 " " 4 ( ! ( ! ! 0 5727.34 5735 the shallow water table, recharging 5718.16 5730 5720.67 groundwater during the irrigation ( ! ! ( ! ( 5724.33 ( ! 5725 4,086,000 season. 5721.88 £ ¤ 5 5 0 5727.34 5700 • ( ! Potential pathway for contamination to 5722.55 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 mi 5720 ( ! enter aquifer Ethan Mamer 237,000 238,000 239,000 240,000 /
What happens to stream algae on the Animas during critical low flows? Cultural Eutrophication Low flow = less water to dilute pollutants Nutrients “fertilize” the river “Critical low flow” = 88.8cfs Algal Blooms Die off & Decomposition Annual Minimum flows on Reduced Dissolved Oxygen Animas @ Aztec 2008-2018 R ange <10 to 150 cfs Death of fish & aquatic species 7/1/12 190 cfs Nitrogen & + Phosphorus Melissa May 6/13/18 320 cfs
MINERALOGY AND CHEMISTRY OF MINE WASTE ROCK PILES IN MINING DISTRICTS IN SOUTHERN COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO Combined ARD Classification Plot 9 NON- UNCERTAI ACID N FORMING 8 7 6 NAGpH 5 UNCERTAIN POTENTIAL 4 ACID FORMING 3 2 1 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 NPR Jeter Mine Rosedale District Jicarilla District Silverton, CO St. Anthony Mine Little Davie, Lucky Don, Chupadera Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) plot of waste rock pile at mines examined during the NMBGMR AML project. NPR is a calculated ABA parameter
Communicating Environmental Risks to the Public Dennis McQuillan, New Mexico Environment Department Perform a holistic assessment of contaminants and risks Challenging issues for communication: regulatory and technical nomenclature, measurement units, valence states, isotopes, numerous standards and guidelines, background contamination, language barriers GKM potential exposure pathways: drinking surface or groundwater, swimming/boating, sediment exposure, ingestion of crops, livestock, fish, wildlife, airborne dust Communicate using simple terms, without being condescending, that directly address public questions and concerns 11
Geochemistry the of the Animas River after the Gold King Mine Spill, San Juan County, New Mexico Talon Newton , Ethan Mamer, Stacy Timmons • Groundwater recharge sources • River water via irrigation • Regional groundwater • Iron and Manganese • Exceeds U.S. EPA secondary MCL in some wells • Difficult to pinpoint the source • Gold King Mine spill • No evidence of impact to groundwater quality • Favorable geochemical conditions • Potential for impact still exists • Ongoing monitoring is recommended
Water Quality in the Animas and San Juan Rivers Post Gold King Release--Updated with 2017 Water Sampling Kate Sullivan, Mike Cyterski Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Athens, GA BACKGROUND • The Gold King Mine release mainly affected water and sediment metals in the Animas during the first month after the release (August 2015) • The San Juan River did not receive much of the release at that time because most of it was deposited upstream of Durango • EPA’s science team found that these deposits were washed out of the Animas and transported to Lake Powell during the 2016 snowmelt period from March to June (see EPA report 2016 on the Gold King website) • We sampled during snowmelt 2017 to confirm that everything had returned to background RESULTS • In 2017, many metals in the Animas were the lowest in years • We don’t have as long a record of metals concentrations in the San Juan, but metals were also very low throughout the river in 2017 • We developed sensitive indicators of when the GKM metals were carried in the rivers--none were found in 2017 • Metals were within safe use levels
Animas River – Aquatic Insects Scott Roberts, Mountain Studies Institute – scott@mountainstudies.org
Heavy metal cycling through Animas River organisms 2-years after the Gold King Mine spill terrestrial vegetation Dissolved Predator organic C scrapers soil M + M + detritivores Bottom-feeder predators sediment periphyton M + Daniel Cadol and Benjamin Duval, NMT
Metal concentrations in leaf tissue Location-Navajo Nation Corn Leaves All leaf metal concentrations were below dietary guidelines; no metals detected in residues on leaf surfaces.
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