Outfitters who depend on the Animas River took an immediate hit in the aftermath of the Gold King Mine blowout, and the long-term affect on tourism is yet to be known. But for those in the agricultural industry, many see the spill as a close call that could have devastated the market.
“Agriculture was kind of left at the bottom,” Brand Inspector Chad Moore said at the La Plata County Cattlemen’s meeting on Monday. “It was brought up and it wasn’t an issue to the county, town and everywhere else in between. It just wasn’t there.”
Luckily for ranchers around Durango, there is not a large amount of cattle that depend on water from the Animas, and those who do use its waters for irrigation had a back-up plan, Moore said. Mostly, those at Monday’s meeting believed they were fortunate to skirt the attention of the spill, with most of the focus on the tourism industry and the stigma of a mustard-orange river.
“It was a blessing in disguise that agriculture, especially cattle, were left out of this and not brought up,” Moore said. “If word got out that cattle in Southwest Colorado or La Plata County (were affected), it could have devastated the market down here. It could have given buyers an excuse to buy cheaper somewhere else.”
Nine days after the 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage passed through Durango, health officials reopened the river, deeming it safe for recreational and agricultural uses. Since then, there have been no confirmed reports of adverse health effects on livestock.
Sandy Young, the only rancher in the association who draws from the Animas, said as soon as she heard of the spill, she shut the irrigation head gates off, and tried to keep her cattle away from the river for as long as possible. She said she has had some customers call with concerns, but mostly her operation was unaffected.
“I just now put my water back on the ditch because my concern was the sediment,” she said. “No one knows anything about the sediment. We can go to the moon but we don’t have an understanding about this sediment.”
Still, some ranchers said while no apparent impacts on agriculture have been observed in the short term, the effects of the blowout are something to be monitored going forward.
For perspective, Moore related a story he recently heard from longtime rancher Ed Zink. He said in 1978 when mining operations caused Lake Emma to collapse, effectively flooding the entire Sunnyside mine workings and bringing 300 million gallons of acid mine drainage down the Animas, ranchers chose not to turn off their irrigation ditches.
“He (Zink) said nothing happened,” Moore said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
