In the short term, water sampling has protected the drinking-water supplies of communities along the Animas River.

Clean water will flush pollutants downstream, and eventually much of the pollution will be trapped behind dams along the Colorado River, settling in lake-bottom sediments. [8] The plug was accidentally removed while investigating a leak at the abandoned Gold King Mine. The Animas River within and immediately below Durango is well known as a trout fishery. Cleaner river water will continue to flow down the Colorado to Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other western cities. [13]" The metals considered are "cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc, and possibly others. Precambrian rocks crop out in the eastern part of the drainage basin in The ancestral Puebloan site of Aztec Ruins National Monument is situated along the river in the present day town of Aztec and for much of its course the river flows through native Ute and Navajo lands.

in the basin is the city of Durango, Colo. [12], In February 2016, the Associated Press reported that the spill "dumped 880,000 pounds of metals" into the Animas River, and that "most of the metals settled into the riverbed. Rob Blair and George Bracksieck, eds., The Eastern San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2011). This is due to the presence of the Animas River, a 126-mile stretch of water that has recently been named a Colorado Gold Metal Water fishing destination. be estimated from the distribution of mining claims and Minerals Availability System (MAS) the basin is varied. Silverton caldera by several million years (Casadevall and Ohmoto, 1977). A methane seep was reported on the river in Durango, Colorado in 2016.[5]. late Tertiary age episode of andesitic to dacitic volcanism followed by a later episode of

Fish dispersed from the stocking program in Durango produce the sparse population of brown and rainbow trout for several miles both upstream and downstream of town. They discarded most of this rock and debris near the adits (the opening at the surface), where it became exposed to the atmosphere and weather, flushing mineral toxins to the streams below. Indians in 1873, between 1,000 and 1,500 mining claims were staked in the Animas River Spending time on the river is one of the best summer activities here in Durango. Thus, the Animas River is a precious resource worthy of protection and improvement through conservation and pollution control. [12] The river's fish population might also be at risk due to the toxic waste that now runs through the river. No matter what the water levels are, your own person river experience, or the overall conditions of the river…

Miners disposed of the mine tailings, a fine gray mineral powder suspended in water, by discharging the refuse into the nearest stream.

2). The typical seasonal minimum stream flow occurs during the winter months of November through March. Southwestern Water Conservation District, Animas La-Plata Operation, Maintenance, & Replacement Association, and The Town of Durango. The Animas River originates at Animas Forks northeast of Silverton at an elevation of 11,120 feet and flows southward to Farmington, New Mexico, where it joins the San Juan River, which ultimately flows to the Colorado. While the river may not hit that mark this year, there is a wild-card type … The Animas flows through Durango, where its gradient moderates, and continues in that manner for the rest of its course within Colorado. The Animas bears the San Juan’s legacy of mining to this day. [11], The spill changed the color of the river to orange, and the spill was described as "devastating" by Kim Stevens, the director of Environment Colorado, who said that businesses who rely on the river for profit might have to close down. The USGS Water Science Centers monitor current streamflow and water-quality conditions at various sites in the Animas and San Juan River Basins in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The water—which was laced with heavy metals such as iron, arsenic, and lead—escaped when workers breached materials that they did not realize were holding back the contaminated water. out in the southern part of the drainage basin.