WATER QUALITY MONITORING PROGRAM

Across the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille watershed, over 350,000 people value our water--whether for industrial use, irrigation, drinking water or fish and wildlife habitat. To ensure that these needs are met, sound land and water management decisions must be made. The best tool from which to draw data to make these decisions is accurate basin-wide monitoring data. Although there are many factors which affect water quality, the Council has focused mostly on nutrients (i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus) and algal growth. As funding becomes available, the Council will address other water quality issues and monitor other measures of water quality such as metals, sediments, flows, temperature, fish habitat, etc. Other groups and agencies also collect data on a wide variety of water quality issues. The Council is working with those groups to make a more complete picture of water quality is available to the public and scientific communities.

In order to acquire this vital information, the involvement of a wide variety of resource professionals is required. The Council created a Monitoring committee composed of representatives from the three states, businesses and industry, Native American tribes, the U. S. Geological Service and EPA Regions 8 & 10. With help from Land and Water Consulting, Inc., the committee designed an efficient and cost-effective program to provide scientifically useful information nutrients & algae levels. Monitoring program costs vary from year to year depending on the number of sites monitored. Contributions are made by state and federal agencies, cities, counties, conservation groups and businesses. Additional support is being sought from the basin stakeholders. The Council goes beyond political boundaries and unites governments, citizens and other stakeholders to acquire and utilize reliable information about the our vital common bond: water.

Sampling began in June 1998 and is carried out at various sites across the entire watershed. Please see our Reports and Documents page for a list of annual monitoring program reports that are available on-line.

Also available is a five-year Trends Analysis report, an overview of the first-ever analysis of water quality trends across our three-state watershed. This report, Water Quality Status and Trends in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Watershed, analyzes data from 1984 through 2002. We have been able to add access to the complete 343 page document on the Reports and Documents page along with the 5 page Executive Summary. But for more direct discussion please see the Laymen's Summary of these findings.

Laymen's Summary of Water Quality Findings in the Clark Fork Pend Oreille Watershed:  This page summarizes the scientific findings in the Trends Analysis report on nutrients, metals, and algae in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille watershed from 1984 to 2002. Water quality can be measured by a variety of scientific tests, so within this Laymen's Summary, we have linked the highlighted scientific terms to definitions that you may find useful. When reviewing this Laymen's Summary just click on any of the highlighted terms to find its definition.

 

Monitoring Program Sponsors

We are grateful to the following organizations for their support of the 2003 Water Quality Monitoring program:

Avista Corporation
City of Sandpoint, Idaho
Idaho Dept. of Environmental Quality
Missoula Wastewater Treatment Plant
Missoula Water Quality District
Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality
Plum Creek Timber Company
Stimson Lumber Company
University of Montana
U. S. Forest Service
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington Dept. of Ecology

Other resources: