River reopens as toxins dilute in Lake Powell

SALT LAKE CITY — A river in Colorado that was turned sickly yellow by a mine waste spill reopened Friday after the now- diluted toxic plume passed through and reached Lake Powell — a huge reservoir 300 miles downstream that feeds the Colorado River and supplies water to the Southwest.

Water officials, however, said the plume that includes lead, arsenic and other heavy metals now presents little danger to users beyond Lake Powell — such as the city of Las Vegas — because the contaminants will further settle out and be diluted in the reservoir along the Utah-Arizona border.

“We’re kind of at the end of the road,” said Erica Gaddis, assistant director of the Utah Division of Water Quality.

The initial spill involved more than 3 million gallons of waste from the Gold King Mine into the Animus River, but that amount is dwarfed by the 10 trillion gallons of water in the Colorado River system, said Corey Enus, a spokesman for the Southern Nevada Waste Authority.

His agency estimates the wastewater will make it out of Lake Powell in about two weeks amid extra testing to monitor the contaminants.

The picturesque reservoir is a hotspot popular among tourists for fishing and other recreation.

Utah’s state fish biologist Richard Hepworth said he’s not expecting fish to die off, but there could be long- term effects on species such as striped bass.

“My concern is, can people still eat these fish?” he said.

The man- made reservoir doesn’t have the same diversity of species seen in naturally occurring bodies of water, said Mark Anderson, aquatic ecologist at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

But some nat ive fish, like the razorback sucker, are re- populating, and there are fears the recovery could be in danger because of the contaminants.