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BRYCE CANYON — Prairie dog feces are causing E. coli contamination of the drinking water at Bryce Canyon National Park, according to Garfield County officials.
The park’s drinking water tested positive for E. coli fecal contamination multiple times at its spring source. Officials believe the contamination stems from Utah prairie dogs that have burrowed into the ground at the drinking water’s spring source, the Garfield County Commission and sheriff’s office said in an emailed statement.
“The public drinking water system at Bryce Canyon National Park was declared by Garfield County as an immediate, direct and significant threat to the health, safety and welfare of Garfield County’s residents and visitors,” the statement reads.
The county praised park employee Moyle Johnson for his “repeated efforts” to expose the problem but denounced the negative retaliation from federal agencies that Johnson received “for doing his duty.”
Photos of the prairie dogs and their burrows near the drinking water well heads prove the existence of the animals, the statement says. Park employees and the 2.3 million annual visitors to the park are at risk for E. coli contamination until the prairie dogs are removed.
“It is taking (years) for Bryce Canyon National Park leadership to fix this problem, which has dragged on for seven years now,” the statement reads.
The county demanded that the park service remove the prairie dogs from the water source’s first perimeter by May 31 and from its second perimeter by July 31.
