Abandoned CO Mines Affect 1,645 Miles Of Water

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has created a map of the 1,645 miles of Colorado's streams which are impaired by the state's abandoned mines

When news of the Gold King Mine spill first emerged, many across the state quickly began wondering what other abandoned mines were hurting Colorado's water. Now the state Department of Public Health and Environment has a map to answer that question. 

In total, 1,645 miles of Colorado's streams are impaired by mining related impacts. 

It's worth noting that "impaired" means a lot of different things. That can mean that the water's not suitable for drinking or watering crops, yes. But not all impaired streams are deemed hurt for those reasons. It can also mean that the water isn't supporting cold aquatic life, for instance.  So how many mines would we have to fix to help all those streams? First, let's look at the scale. There are 232 total known abandoned mines in Colorado that are discharging water on CDPHE's map.

Of those, 47 abandoned mines have active water treatment programs in place for the water that comes out of them. 

Another 35 abandoned mines that are leaking water are being investigated by the state or being remediated. 

But most of the abandoned mines discharging water, 148, are listed as likely impacting water quality with no active treatment.

Source : CPR

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Taxonomy

• Environment
• Pollution
• Mine Water Management