Civil engineers are being urged to be prepared for the next natural disaster to hit the Colorado River: a spill of contaminated water into the river.
The Colorado River Authority has warned that as many as 200 people could be forced to evacuate after a spill in a remote part of the state caused by a power line in a small river.
The emergency spill alert was issued on Wednesday after a line in the Colorado was broken.
The incident happened on the afternoon of June 27.
The Colorado River was expected to be at capacity on Friday when a section of the river was temporarily shut down due to a power failure.
Authorities are trying to figure out what happened to the power line.
The state Department of Natural Resources said it could have been a small, uncontrolled leak of water that damaged an electrical line.
A spokesman for the state department said that while there was no indication that the power was being used to power the power lines, the state was working to find out.
“The state is working to determine what happened and to determine who was responsible,” he said.
The state has opened an investigation.
Colorado officials said that after the power break the river is likely to run dry in some areas and will become more active in coming days.
The agency is asking people to remain off the river and to stay away from all areas of the River, which flows from Colorado Springs to the Rocky Mountains and into the Great Lakes.
The National Weather Service in Denver issued a weather alert, warning that flooding could occur in parts of the Rockies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
