In 2009, a friend and I were hiking along East Fork Boulder Creek in Southern Utah and came across hundreds of dead brook trout floating in the creek. Upon calling the Department of Wildlife Resources, I learned that the water was poisoned with the chemical Rotenone. The purpose of this “treatment” was to sterilize the creek in order to rid the water of the unwanted fish species and to then reintroduce the Colorado River cutthroat trout, and UDWR intended to repeat this poisoning protocol for two more years.
It only takes actually seeing the results of this practice to recognize that poisoning water for any reason is insane. Yet, despite Boulder Town successfully preventing the future poisoning of East Fork Boulder Creek, the ubiquitous practice of using Rotenone and other chemicals continues as standard fish management in lakes and creeks throughout the United States.
As stated in the Tribune article on Aug. 26, “Utah wildlife officials plan to wipe out all the fish at Navajo (lake) and restock it with rainbow, brook and tiger trout and other species enjoyed by anglers.” Richard Hepworth, UDWR fisheries manager, stated that to achieve this goal it will take “9,000 pounds” (!) of powdered Rotenone and that “we probably won’t be able to” eliminate the targeted fish since it hasn’t worked with past attempts by the agency.
Despite green washing this toxic chemical as deriving from plants in South America, research links Rotenone to Parkinson’s disease in humans and has been shown to cause a lethal and detrimental cascading effect in the ecology, affecting microorganisms and all the life in the water.
Don’t buy the PR from UDWR. Go to: www.utwaterguardians.org for more information, attend the public meeting at Duck Creek Village on Sep. 5, and take a stand for wild water.
Constance Lynn, Boulder