By Chris Sorensen

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced Saturday morning that further testing by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation on the water supply in Hugo has revealed the water does not contain THC – the active chemical in marijuana. A water advisory that had been in effect since Thursday has been cancelled.

Thursday afternoon, law enforcement field test kits returned positive results for the byproducts of metabolized THC in the water. Further testing isolated the suspected contamination to one of the town’s five wells. It is now believed those tests produced a false positive, however one well site shows signs of tampering that will continue to be investigated as a criminal matter.

With the field tests showing THC, town officials urged residents to avoid drinking, cooking or washing with water from the town’s supply, that was later revised to only avoiding consuming the water.

Bottled water was brought to the community starting late Thursday to meet residents’ needs. Temperatures in the area had been approaching 100 throughout the week, exacerbating the need for people and pets to remain hydrated.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Colorado Springs Utilities have been assisting local agencies with the response and ongoing investigation.