Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) and the City of Santa Fe would like to assure Santa Fe water customers that recent concerns of the Gold King mine wastewater contamination leaking into the San Juan River will not reach our drinking water system.

Gold King mine waste water contamination is flowing in the northwest portion of New Mexico into the Animas River. The Animas River does not join the San Juan River until some 80 miles downstream by Farmington, New Mexico.

The San Juan-Chama Project supplies a portion of the water to the BDD from the Navajo, Little Navajo, and Blanco Rivers in Southern Colorado, which are upper tributaries of the San Juan River.

The San Juan-Chama Project feeds into the Rio Grande and will have no direct impact as it is upstream of the contaminated area.

BDD will stop all river water intake if there are questionable water quality concerns in order to safeguard the community’s drinking water supply.

The BDD Board and staff are active on many fronts to assure that the BDD provides excellent quality drinking water that meets and exceeds all federal and state safe drinking water standards.

Water experts in Santa Fe continue to follow information through several sources including the EPA Emergency Operations Systems, Bureau of Reclamation, and various other industry resources keeping apprised of the facts.

For further questions and concerns regarding the processing and treatment of drinking water at BDD, contact Charles Vokes, Facility Director at 505-955-4507.

For further questions and concerns regarding the processing and treatment of drinking water for the City of Santa Fe, contact Alex Puglisi, Source of Supply Manager at 505-955-4232.