Report: Inter-annual Variability of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Bonita Peak Mining District
From the introduction: Mountain Studies InstituteDecember 20201 1.IntroductionPortions of the Upper Animas watershed were designated as the Bonita Peak Mining District (BPMD) Superfund site in 2017 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA and other agencies, partners, and parties are conducting remediation within BPMD to reduce metal contamination of the Animas River and tributaries. Monitoring of benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) communities across a gradient of metal exposure will be an important component of assessing the effectiveness of remediation efforts in the BPMD.
The main objective of this work is to establish the natural annual variability of benthic communities in the BPMD, which will allow researchers in the coming years to be able to more conclusively determine if current and future remediation efforts have successfully improved conditions for aquatic life.
Prepared For: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and US EPA Region 8