El Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio, the River of Lost Souls in Purgatory, the original name for the Animas River, seems prophetic as the river is in a perpetual state of siege from the piling on of more and more human-caused impacts.
Over the past months, the Herald has reported on multiple Animas issues including: unpleasant and odiferous conditions along the river parkway; the need to rebuild the Animas River above the water treatment plant after the “built for kayaking” Smelter Rapid changed the channel upstream and cut off water to the city facility; the enhancement of the Crestview Ditch to speed runoff water to the Animas; the apparent lack of any Corp of Engineers or county control over Animas River floodplain dumping of concrete and building debris north of 32nd Street; and the continued saga of who is to blame for upstream mine drainage while the arguments continue over whether the 48 abandoned mines will somehow clean themselves up.
Now the city has posted “Drinking Water Protection Area” signs at the 32nd Street bridge. Doesn’t this seem just a bit hypocritical?
While all of this is going on upstream, people, crops and animals downstream continue to suffer from less-than-healthy water quality. We collectively have an opportunity and a responsibility to develop a forward-looking science-based collaborative management approach for the Animas River, an effort that should have as its central objective the health and protection of the river from the headwaters above Silverton to its confluence with the San Juan River in Farmington.
Those of us who have benefited from and enjoyed the Animas River should leave a legacy of a clean and biologically functioning river and floodplain, not a river in spirit only. We can and should do better. Sadly, I suspect the leadership in the county, city, federal and state decision makers will squander the moment and continue to kick the can into the river and watch it float out of sight.
David Wegner
Tucson
