Vallecito-area residents woke up Friday morning to the sight of Vallecito Creek running orange. But no, it was not another Gold King Mine spill.
Butch Knowlton, La Plata County’s director for the Office of Emergency Management, said an intense rainstorm made its way across Hermosa, over the Animas Valley and into the high country of the Weminuche Wilderness around 7 p.m. Thursday.
That storm likely unloaded heavy amounts of rain in a drainage of Vallecito Creek, which turned the creek an orange color.
The timing would be right, Knowlton said, as the water reached the community Friday morning.
The only curious part is that the mountains north of Vallecito are not highly mineralized – as is the case with mountains around Silverton. There are no mines in the Vallecito Creek drainage.
Knowlton is not exactly certain where the rain hit, but he said it is likely some of the terrain above tree line came down as orange-colored runoff.
“I don’t think it’s the end of the world,” he said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
