Water contamination is another possible side effect of drought
Anew study offers disquieting information for Westerners about their water supply. Due primarily to reduced river flows brought on by dry conditions, our water is taking on higher concentrations of metals used in products like cellphone batteries, computer hard drives and catalytic converters in cars.
These metals are known as rare earth elements, and it’s natural to have some level of them in the water. The elements exist in soil and rock formations, and are carried into rivers via rainfall or runoff caused by melting snow.
But researchers examining four decades’ worth of samples from the Snake River in Colorado found that amid dwindling rainfall and a shrinking snowpack that has reduced runoff to the river, concentrations of rare earth elements are less diluted today than they have been in the past.
The study, published last month in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, has implications throughout the West. Researchers said the same phenomenon could be expected in other Western rivers, which are undergoing similar climate-related stresses.
So what are the health repercussions of these higher amounts of metals? The answer will require more study.
While rare earth elements are not listed as a toxicant by the Environmental Protection Agency, they are known to be toxic to microbes and small aquatic organisms. That’s potentially problematic, because what isn’t known yet is what happens when the metals advance up the food chain.
“These effects are understood at the bottom of the food web, but it’s very difficult to scale up what that means for fish or more complex biological life,” said the study’s lead author, Garrett Rue, in a story published by the investigative reporting publication High Country News. Rue was a master’s student in environmental studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, when the research was done.
And that’s just one of the stresses on Western rivers. Lower water flow and warming water temperatures have created a host of problems, such as toxic algae blooms and massive fish die-offs due to proliferation of parasites.
While more study on rare earth elements is likely to be forthcoming, common sense would dictate that having higher concentrations of the same metallic elements that are in our phones, computers and auto parts isn’t a good thing.
The amount of the increase is significant too, statistically speaking. Where concentrations were before measured in the parts-per-trillion range, they’re now being found in parts-per-billion. That may not sound like a high level, but it’s a 1,000fold increase from earlier decades.
At the least, the study begs a greater level of testing to ensure the metals aren’t slipping through filtration systems for drinking water or contaminating groundwater supplies. Currently, there are no federal requirements to monitor water for rare earth elements, but that needs to change.
It also will be important to analyze the wildlife and flora along waterways to see if the higher concentrations of these metals are damaging the environment.
Another area to tackle is cleanup of abandoned mines, which according to researchers are a key contributor to the higher levels of rare earth elements. The metals are embedded in rocks in those mines and are freed by oxidation and other chemical reactions. The study notes that this problem is particularly prevalent in Nevada, which is no surprise given our state’s mining history.
But an underlying need as it pertains to the West’s rivers is to aggressively respond to climate change, which has disrupted regional weather patterns and put our water supply under enormous stress. As we know all too well in Southern Nevada, where the first-ever water shortage was declared this year for Lake Mead, increasing heat and decreased snowfall have combined to dramatically reduce the flow of the Colorado River. Nevadans have made a number of strides to curb global warming, including by adopting statewide targets for energy generation from renewable sources, but we must remain aggressive.
Our water supply is under enough duress without being increasingly contaminated by the metals found in our car parts and smart phones. We can’t stand pat and allow problems like this to intensify.