TRI-STATE COUNCIL'S HISTORY & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
HISTORY
The water quality protection measures of the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Watershed Management Plan can be traced back to the 1980’s. Responding to citizen concerns about increased aquatic weeds and algae in the Clark Fork River and Pend Oreille Lake, the U. S. Congress added language to Section 525 of the 1987 Clean Water Act to direct the EPA to conduct a comprehensive water quality study in the basin and identify sources of pollution. In the late 80’s congressional delegates from Montana, Idaho and Washington respond to citizen concerns and worked to appropriate $1.3 million to EPA for conducting the Section 525 studies. From 1989 through 1992 the EPA and the three state’s water quality agencies conducted studies, analyzed results, developed a watershed management plan and conducted public hearings. By 1993 the plan was finalized and sent to Congress as a report on the Section 525 work. That same year the EPA and the state agencies formed the Tri-State Implementation Council, a 28-member broad-based stakeholder group, and hold the first meeting in October to hand over the plan to the Council for implementation.
As stakeholders in the 26,000 square mile watershed, Council members are actively involved in protecting and improving water quality of the Clark Fork River in Montana, Pend Oreille Lake in Idaho and the Pend Oreille River in Washington. The Council meets its mission by coordinating various implementation activities, building strong support for the watershed management plan, developing timetables and implementation strategies, and providing a forum for public input and support.
The Council’s primary management objectives are to:
(1) control nuisance algae growth in the Clark Fork River by reducing nutrient concentrations from point and nonpoint sources of pollution;
(2) protect Pend Oreille Lake water quality by maintaining or reducing current rates of nutrient loading from the Clark Fork River;
(3) reduce nearshore eutrophication in Pend Oreille Lake by reducing nutrient loading from local sources; and
(4) improve Pend Oreille River water quality through aquatic weed management and tributary nonpoint source controls.
To reach these objectives, the Council is implementing specific action items from the watershed management plan, primarily through the work of ad hoc committees focused on point and nonpoint source controls throughout the watershed, a basinwide water quality monitoring program, and public education programs.
Though much has been accomplished since the plan's inception, rapid population growth and increasing urbanization are leading to more stormwater runoff, increased municipal and industrial discharges, escalating shoreline development, and degradation of riparian areas. Council members agreed that an update of the plan was needed in order to adapt the direction of watershed management and to provide new, specific strategies for addressing these growing challenges.
During 2005, the Council was selected by EPA to facilitate this update and has been working with a steering committee consisting of the Montana, Idaho and Washington water quality agencies, EPA Regions 8 and 10, the Kalispel Tribe, and other Council organizations. A letter and fact sheet were mailed to over 400 key stakeholders and groups informing them of the update process. Through meetings and feedback from stakeholders, the committee is nearing completion of the new plan.
The updated plan will include an overview of the basin and its water quality status; accomplishments of goals and objectives to date; proposed goals and objectives for the future; and recommended priorities for specific actions. A draft of the plan is scheduled to be ready for public review and comment during Winter 2006. When the draft is finalized, the plan will be posted right here on our website and we encourage your feedback
SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since 1993, the Council has:
- Developed an agreement (Voluntary Nutrient Reduction Program, or VNRP) for significant pollution reduction measures for the Clark Fork River in Montana, through a collaborative process, which included the major point source dischargers.
- Guided implementation of the VNRP to reduce Clark Fork River nutrient pollution from point and nonpoint sources.
- Crafted an agreement between the states of Montana and Idaho that sets a nutrient loading target at the Montana/Idaho boundary to protect the water quality of Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille.
- Developed and implemented a three-state water quality monitoring program for Montana, Idaho and Washington portions of the watershed to detect long term water quality trends and to gauge the effectiveness of water quality clean-up solutions.
- Developed recommendations to the State of Montana for improvements to its discharge permitting policy that would provide better protection for Clark Fork River water quality.
- Assisted the City of Deer Lodge with development of a system to land apply the city's wastewater on nearby hayfields thereby eliminating this source of nutrient pollution from the Clark Fork River during summer months.
- Assisted the City of Butte with acquiring funding for technical assistance to develop options for clean up and disposal of its wastewater.
- Participated in a collaborative process to develop protection, mitigation and enhancement measures during Avista Corporation's re-licensing of the Cabinet Gorge and Noxon dams.
- Created Water Festivals held annually for 5th and 6th grade students in Pend Oreille County, Washington, Bonner County, Idaho and Missoula, Montana.
- Created a series of watershed education trunks that are distributed to grades 3-6 classrooms across the three-state watershed.
- Published and distributed 75,000 copies of an 8-page tabloid about the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille watershed.
- Conducted shelf surveys to determine that phosphate detergents are not available for sale across the three-state watershed, thus eliminating one source of phosphorus to the basin's rivers and lakes.
- Built partnerships with watershed groups, organizations, agencies, universities and conservation districts across the watershed for achieving water quality goals.
- Established 12 ad hoc subcommittees totaling nearly 200 volunteer participants working on priority action items from the watershed management plan.
- Facilitated a precedent-setting agreement between Montana and Idaho at their shared border to protect the water quality of Idaho’s Lake Pend Oreille.
- Designed and implemented a watershed-wide monitoring program to provide comprehensive information on long-term water quality trends across the three-state watershed.
- Completed the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for nutrients to protect the nearshore waters of Lake Pend Oreille.
- Received the 2001 National Watershed Award from CF Industries and The Conservation Fund.
- Created mini-grant programs to provide technical and financial assistance for communities and smaller dischargers in Montana to develop and to implement solutions to nutrient pollution problems.
- Garnered a $1 million National Watershed Initiative grant to implement on-the-ground improvements in key areas of the watershed by partnering with the Bitterroot Watershed Partnership, Blackfoot Challenge, Flathead Basin Commission and Watershed Restoration Coalition of the Upper Clark Fork.