WELCOME TO TRI-STATE WATER QUALITY COUNCIL

The non-profit Tri-State Water Quality Council is a successful partnership of diverse community interests—including citizens, business, industry, tribes, government, and environmental groups—working together to improve and protect water quality throughout the 26,000 square mile Clark Fork-Pend Oreille watershed. The watershed includes the Clark Fork River in western Montana, Pend Oreille Lake in northern Idaho, and the Pend Oreille River in eastern Washington.

Working collaboratively to seek community-based solutions through consensus, science, and education, the Council works to educate and engage communities and residents in the watershed to take an active role in protecting water quality and reducing pollution.

The Council meets semi-annually each April and October in varying locations to review progress on the many activities occurring across the watershed.  The April 2008 meeting was held near the headwaters of the Upper Clark Fork Basin in Butte, Montana.  The October 2008 meeting will be held in Sandpoint (see sidebar).

Much of the work is accomplished by dedicated committees that meet throughout the year.  Some of these committees have been meeting regulary for many years and others are formed when an issue requires the concerted effort of a local community group.