Photos: Toxic contamination of Sonoran rivers
- Updated
On Aug. 7, a leaching pond in the Buenavista copper mine in Sonora spilled 10 million gallons of water contaminated with sulfuric acid, iron, cadmium and copper into the Bacanuchi River and Sonora River.
With dozens of empty drinking water bottles stacked around the yard, Natalia Leyba hauls in a five gallon bucket of water from a tank behind the house to use in the bathroom, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora. Running water in the small village is limited to only a few hours a day and not to be used for drinking or cooking following a mine spill that may have left the Rio Bacanuchi river bed contaminated.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Amidst some of the drinking water supplies, men line the back walls of the hall during a gathering of the village's 500 or so residents to talk about the contamination of the Rio Bacanuchi, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
With little to no running water available, Lydia Diaz does her dishwashing using as little as possible while she and the others in the town deal with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Ana Maria Diaz wrestles a five gallon jug of water while redistributing the home's supply of drinking water into gallon jugs as residents cope with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Edgar Cesena closes the hatch on a water tanker after filling it from a well just outside of town where dozens of trucks fill up daily to supply the residents, part of the effort to deal with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A water tanker driver uses bottled water to fill his radiator while waiting in line to get loaded at a well outside of town, just one of dozens of "pipe trucks" brought in to deal with a water shortage in the wake of the possible contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Jorge Lopez catches an empty five gallon water bottle as he and a crew at a Grupo Mexico water purification and distribution site recycle the jugs to be refilled in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Huepac, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Residents cluster around the windows and doors of the hall as most of the village's 500 or so residents gather to talk about the water shortage and the possible contamination of the Rio Bacanuchi, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
While their parents and neighbors work on the grounds Fernando Hernandez, left, and Jesus Diaz get in a few minutes of soccer before the start of classes in the village elementary school, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A loaded Grupo Mexico water tanker truck heads into town over the Rio Sonora, part of the effort to deal with the city's water shortage in the wake of possible contamination of the river, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Workers load five gallon bottles into a pick-up truck as they distribute drinking water to the community dealing with a water shortage in the wake of the possible contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
With dozens of empty drinking water bottles stacked around the yard, Natalia Leyba hauls in a five gallon bucket of water from a tank behind the house to use in the bathroom, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora. Running water in the small village is limited to only a few hours a day and not to be used for drinking or cooking following a mine spill that may have left the Rio Bacanuchi river bed contaminated.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Romeo Castro, a chemical biologist with the state of Sonora, takes samples that will be tested for contamination at the Arizpe Well #1 site near the Rio Bacanuchi.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star 2014
Natalia Leyba tosses a hot tortilla onto the table as she works well before dawn making burritos to sell from her kitchen, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Amidst some of the drinking water supplies, men line the back walls of the hall during a gathering of the village's 500 or so residents to talk about the contamination of the Rio Bacanuchi, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Hundreds of five gallon bottles of water trucked by Grupo Mexico wait in the village's hall for distribution following the possible contamination of the Rio Bacanuchi, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
With little to no running water available, Lydia Diaz does her dishwashing using as little as possible while she and the others in the town deal with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Francisco Diaz, lower left, Ana Maria Diaz and Lydia Socorro Escalante have a breakfast of a few tortillas and beans, Sunday,, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Juanita Diaz does her homework in a room serving as bed-, storage- and TV-room and housing the family's small refrigirator, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
All water is precious so Lydia Diaz saves the grey water from her dishwashing as residents cope with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Ana Maria Diaz wrestles a five gallon jug of water while redistributing the home's supply of drinking water into gallon jugs as residents cope with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Edgar Cesena closes the hatch on a water tanker after filling it from a well just outside of town where dozens of trucks fill up daily to supply the residents, part of the effort to deal with a water shortage in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A water tanker driver uses bottled water to fill his radiator while waiting in line to get loaded at a well outside of town, just one of dozens of "pipe trucks" brought in to deal with a water shortage in the wake of the possible contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A vaquero looks out over the Rio Sonora and its possibly contaminated waters, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Workers attempt to remove by shovels and wheel barrows contaminated silt in a arroyo below the Grupo Mexico mine in Cananea, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Dozens of workers troop along an arroyo bed looking for contaminated silt to remove with shovels and wheelbarrows below the Grupo Mexico mine in Cananea, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
The sun rises behind a couple of shrines on the ridge overlooking the tiny village of Bacanuchi, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Natalia Leyba, left, and Ana Urquijo wait for the start of their work day cleaning and repairing the elementary school grounds in their small village, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A dog heads down the muddy and rutted main street of the tiny village of Bacanuchi, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Two children take a spin around the village on an ATV down one of its muddy streets, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Water stained a chalky grey and thickened to the consistency of glue flows sluggishly down a channel just below the Grupo Mexico mine, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Cananea, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Tools, both large and small, stored on the wall of the home of Lydia Diaz and her family, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Manuel Miranda Leon walks through the battered remains of his squash field that was scoured nearly clean and possibly left contaminated by the floodwaters of the Rio Bacanuchi, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Arizpe, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Cesar Felix puts up a balloon scarecrow in one of the family's chiltepin field just outside of town, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Jorge Lopez catches an empty five gallon water bottle as he and a crew at a Grupo Mexico water purification and distribution site recycle the jugs to be refilled in the wake of contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Huepac, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A worker cuts off shrink wrap, lids and plastic from the necks of empty five gallon bottles brought back to the purification site, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Residents cluster around the windows and doors of the hall as most of the village's 500 or so residents gather to talk about the water shortage and the possible contamination of the Rio Bacanuchi, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
While their parents and neighbors work on the grounds Fernando Hernandez, left, and Jesus Diaz get in a few minutes of soccer before the start of classes in the village elementary school, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, Bacanuchi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
A loaded Grupo Mexico water tanker truck heads into town over the Rio Sonora, part of the effort to deal with the city's water shortage in the wake of possible contamination of the river, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
Workers load five gallon bottles into a pick-up truck as they distribute drinking water to the community dealing with a water shortage in the wake of the possible contamination of the Rio Sonora, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, Banamichi, Sonora.
- Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star
As featured on
More than 60 tons of water delivered in month.
Bacanuchi residents worry they've been forgotten in recovery plan.
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