Log In


Reset Password
Opinion Editorial Cartoons Op-Ed Editorials Letters to the Editor

Column omits key Animas information

The latest “Thinking Green” column (Herald, June 15) omits key information that locals should know about how the Animas River is monitored for safety.

Continuous water quality monitoring not only alerts officials to blowout events, it also is linked to over 20 years of data on metals concentration. This historic relationship is used to establish thresholds of public health concern that can trigger an alarm. During 2016, the river has not reached those thresholds; in fact, it hasn’t come close.

Does that mean water quality in Durango is perfect? Certainly not. In the spring, as measured at a single location, some metals concentrations periodically exceed water quality standards, as they have for decades.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the river is a threat to health. For instance, though the Animas sometimes exceeds the standard designed to protect water treatment infrastructure, the city of Durango does not intake Animas River water in the spring. When it does, the city treats that water to a more exacting standard before distribution to the public.

That’s why we think such an exceedance is not alarming but does need to be monitored. This is one example of the dangers of using just a few data points to draw conclusions about public health.

Instead, we evaluate how people and animals are actually exposed to metals. We have issued a formal health advisory around recreational use of the river (http://sjbhd.org/animas-river-health-advisory/) and information for other users appears on our website as updates.

Concerns about the river have attracted resources from the state and federal level to produce new monitoring techniques and more frequent sampling. The result is the most scientific data available for any river in the West; scientists from around the region are evaluating the results.

Watersheds are complex systems. Communicating the best available science without overwhelming the public is tricky. We work every day to protect and inform river users, and we will continue as information becomes available.

Brian Devine

Liane Jollon, RN

Durango

Editor’s note: Brian Devine is the surface and drinking water manager and Liane Jollon is the executive director at San Juan Basin Health Department.



Reader Comments