Farmers in New Mexico reject water use

Aug 25, 2015

Decision comes after a Colorado sludge spill

In order to keep crops and farmland safe from contamination, Navajo farmers near the San Juan River have voted to keep irrigation canals closed for a year after a spill of toxic substances from a Colorado gold mine.

More than 100 farmers from Shiprock, New Mexico, voted unanimously to close the canals. They understand it’s a tough, but necessary decision as it will result in the loss of crops.

Shiprock Chapter President, Duane “Chilli” Yazzie said the decision will help keep the soil uncontaminated and he used the old adage of better safe than sorry in an interview with The Associated Press.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation EPA have both said the water is safe for irrigation based on tests of the water’s surface.

The spill happened on August 5^th, 2015 at the Gold King Mine when workers accidentally destroyed a dam holding back a pond. Doing so resulted in about three million gallons of polluted water filled with heavy metals, arsenic and other waste into Cement Creek, a tributary of Colorado’s Animas River.

The Environmental Protection Agency did not disclose the spill to Colorado and New Mexico until the next day.

"I am furious that the U.S. EPA has placed the Navajo Nation into this position," Tribal President Russell Begaye said in a news release. "Our farms will not last much longer without water, and our resources are depleting."

Join the conversation and tell us your thoughts about the decision to close irrigation canals for a year.

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.