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FARMINGTON — A Navajo Preparatory School student’s desire to learn more about the contaminants in the river water her family uses for farming has led her to winning a number of science fairs for her research.

Sophomore Tyra Nicolay conducted a study of contaminants in the San Juan River by testing for levels of nitrates, E. coli and coliform bacteria at eight points on the river from Farmington to Shiprock.

Nicolay said she wanted to work on an environmental science project that affected her local community.

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Her efforts have resulted in a win at the Navajo Prep science fair, a second place finish at the Navajo Nation Science Fair and a win at the senior division for Environmental Science at the San Juan Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

“I have family who use this water for agricultural purposes, and it kind of makes me scared,” Nicolay said.

A two-year study recently presented by the San Juan Watershed Group and San Juan Soil and Water Conservation District examined pollution in San Juan County rivers and discovered significant levels of bacteria linked to human waste.

Nicolay said while she was researching the project, she found out the contaminants collected from sites on the San Juan River didn’t travel far onto the Navajo Nation.

Melissa May, a San Juan Soil and Water Conservation District natural resource specialist, said the western-most site on the San Juan River the group took samples from was around the Hogback area.

Nicolay tested two sites in Farmington, as well as sites in Kirtland, Nenahnezad, Hogback and two sites in Shiprock for her project.

“I wanted to see if farther downstream in the San Juan River … there would be contaminants,” Nicolay said.

May said Nicolay found results in Farmington that were comparable to what the group found. The number of E. coli bacterial colonies counted by Nicolay decreased downstream in Kirtland, Fruitland, Nenahnezad and Hogback before slightly increasing at two sites in Shiprock.

In the coliform study, levels were lower in Farmington and increased at sites in Kirtland, Fruitland and Nenahnezad before hitting the highest concentration in Hogback. They decreased slightly at the Shiprock sites.

Nicolay said a positive coliform sample could be considered an indication of pollution, and E. coli results could be an indication of fecal pollution.

“It’s kind of concerning to me because I don’t want my family to be around that water,” Nicolay said. “I have nephews, nieces and cousins that are small, and they’ll be … playing in the water. They don’t know it’s contaminated.”

Nicolay hopes to pursue environmental science studies in college and thanked her science teacher, Yolanda Flores, for encouraging her pursuit of the project.

“Without her, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to accomplish my experiment,” Nicolay said.

Nicolay will be competing at the New Mexico Science and Engineering Friday and Saturday at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology campus in Socorro and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2015 May 10 to 15 in Pittsburgh.

Piedra Vista High School sophomore Samantha Dewees also will compete at the Intel fair for her project to determine if prints of people’s lips indicate a genetic link between parents and children.

Joshua Kellogg covers education forThe Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4527 and jkellogg@daily-times.com. Follow him @jkelloggdt on Twitter.

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