U.S. Water News Online
FRUITLAND, N.M. -- Rancher Lawrence Stock never quite meant to join the San Juan Watershed Group.
An unlikely member, he might one day find his cattle accused by the group of polluting the San Juan River and nearby arroyos with E. coli. The bacteria, in high concentrations, can cause severe poisoning.
Stock laughs when asked how he joined.
"I thought it would be a one-time meeting," he said. "I found out I volunteered myself for a committee. I've been going ever since. I want to stay abreast of what is happening because I know, sooner or later, this is going to affect me."
The San Juan Watershed Group recently wrote a report alleging livestock manure is the main source of E. coli on the Stevens Arroyo, a mostly dry creek stretching from the Colorado state line south to the river.
The bacteria, commonly found in the intestines of mammals, suggests more harmful bacteria could be present in the water.
The group formed after the New Mexico Environment Department performed an extensive study of area rivers in 2002, identifying high amounts of E. coli in the San Juan River from Largo Canyon to Hogback.
The stretch of river was labeled impaired, which means swimmers and boaters chance contracting bacterial illnesses generally with mild symptoms like diarrhea when they submerge themselves in the water.
Abe Franklin, a scientist at the Environment Department, said no one has reported becoming ill on the San Juan River, but it would be hard to determine if they had.
People assume a level of risk when they play in natural bodies of water, no different than backpackers acknowledge any stream from which they fill water bottles could have giardia, said David Tomko, coordinator of the San Juan Watershed Group.
Much of the water in the contaminated segment of the San Juan River irrigates fields. Water treatment plants kill bacteria in water used for drinking.
The Environment Department tested some 30 sites where water flowed into the San Juan River for bacteria levels. From Blanco south, the E. coli levels rose and never dropped.
"It's incremental," he said. "We never did identify any one inflow where you could say that's the problem, solve that and we've got it licked. There's no smoking gun."
But three arroyos looked worse than the others, and further study in 2005 showed E. coli levels increased 20 percent where the Stevens Arroyo pours into the river.
A nearby resident suspected a trailer with a faulty septic system, but the watershed group studied the system and concluded it wasn't the main source of contamination in the arroyo.
Instead, the group's report pointed at livestock and flood irrigation on manure-covered fields as likely culprits.
Tomko described locations where a flock of sheep meandered into the water for drinks. Chickens lived along water, as did horses and other animals. Some appeared to be businesses, others hobby farms.
"If it rains, any manure on the slopes would be washed in, or even without rain, animals would be defecating directly into the arroyo," he said.
Some ranchers pasture cattle in winter on the fields then irrigate for crops in the summer. When they irrigate, the water streams through the furrows and picks up E. coli before running off into the arroyo, he said.
The San Juan Watershed Group has a solution in mind but is awaiting funding, at which point it plans to approach the ranchers.
Group members want to convince the ranchers to voluntarily fence cattle away from the arroyo and switch from flood to sprinkler irrigation systems. The money they expect to acquire through the Clean Water Act and other programs would offset the cost.
Additionally, the group wants to plant filter strips of grasses and shrubs between the field and stream to catch manure before it enters the stream.
"I think there's a strong willingness and awareness that people want to do the right thing," Tomko said. "A lot of it might be the economics of the situation, so hopefully well be able to overcome that."
Should it prove successful, this approach could be applied to other areas identified as being a source of bacteria.
"The long-term goal is to ensure the San Juan River has a healthy ecosystem and is safe for humans," Tomko said. "The lesson (here) really applies not only to San Juan County, but the rest of the Southwest."
Ranchers like Stock, who considers his herd small, said he supports the mission of the San Juan Watershed Group.
If the group finds E. coli coming from his property, he would want the problem documented, proven and then fixed.
"We would take a long look at that, but we would be willing to work with them," he said. "If I'm a polluter, I'm going to make an effort to correct it."
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