Three years following the Gold King Mine (GKM) spill that released approximately 11 million liters of metal-laden mine drainage into the Animas River, the scientific community is still evaluating the effects of this acute environmental impact in the context of a chronically mineaffected region. People living within the region affected by the spill had two principal concerns in its aftermath: is the water safe and what are the spill effects on the plants and fish consumed by humans? These are related issues, and perhaps not easy to answer. The work reported here aims to answer the second question regarding spill effects on biota, while appreciating that doing so requires a sophisticated understanding of chemical element cycling and the interactions among the physical and biological components of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems within the influence of the Animas and San Juan Rivers.