The Navajo Nation reopened an irrigation canal along the San Juan River in New Mexico on Friday, more than three weeks upstream in Colorado.
Robert Joe, chief operations officer for the tribe’s president and vice president, says beyond the Fruitland, N.M., canal, the river and all other extensions remain closed. The news came as the Environmental Protection Agency, which , announced Friday that metal levels in the San Juan through the tribe’s land are trending toward pre-disaster conditions.
The EPA concentrations of iron and other metals spiked in the San Juan after the spill, the agency says.
The Navajo Nation earlier in the week despite EPA data released Aug. 19 showing water quality rebounded from the major mine wastewater spill upstream. The tribe said Friday’s reopening was done after tests by the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the water quality. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
