Brief by Allen Best
Water – March 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
The old joke in the headwaters counties of Colorado used to be, “Be sure to flush, because Los Angeles needs the water.” Or perhaps it was, “because Denver needs the water.” But new evidence shows that being at the headwaters doesn’t remove you from tainted water.
A U.S. Geological Survey analysis of water in Colorado for hundreds of chemicals revealed the expected, pollution in down-stream areas near Denver, but also high up in mountain valleys. For example, water wells in the Fairplay area, where the elevation is 10,000 feet, contained chemicals such as nonylphenol. The chemical comes from detergents and has been linked to fish with dual sexual organs. Scientists suggested the chemicals in the water wells come from neighboring septic systems.
Lori Sprague, the chief author of the study, told reporters that none of the concentrations found in Colorado exceed the regulatory limit, “but we don’t know what the human health impacts are.”
