Happy Fall Colors! Students are back in school. Temperatures are dropping. Plants are preparing for winter. Water flows have decreased dramatically. At the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership (UWP), we are finishing up some mine remediation and water sampling projects, after a busy summer that included the Ridgway RiverFest and the San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference. … Read more
WHY THE PROJECTS? In recent years, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has prioritized addressing non-point source pollution from heavy metals in Colorado’s rivers. UWP’s remediation projects at three legacy mine sites in the Upper Uncompahgre Watershed address metals loading and acidic mine drainage to streams that do not meet beneficial uses for aquatic life, recreation, water … Read more
“The Gold King Mine spill is very unfortunate. But it is also bringing public awareness to the magnitude of water quality problems associated with abandoned mines in our region and highlights the need for more remediation,” said Przeszlowska. “The Uncompahgre River headwaters are defined by the same highly mineralized Silverton Caldera as the Animas watershed and numerous abandoned mines also exist in the Uncompahgre … Read more
