PEND OREILLE RIVER WATERSHED
PEND OREILLE RIVER WATERSHED PLANNING
In 2004, the Tri-State Water Quality Council, along with Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, began working with the Washington Department of Ecology and the Kalispel Tribe to coordinate simultaneous efforts on TMDL development for the Pend Oreille River. This effort culminated in 2005 in an agreement with EPA to develop a single interstate temperature and dissolved gas TMDL for the entire Pend Oreille River. As a facilitator for the development of the TMDL's, the Council organized the Pend Oreille River Watershed advisory Group (WAG). The WAG consists of representatives from counties, cities, point source dischargers, utilities, agriculture, mining, timber and agencies from both Washington and Idaho.
The Council is also partnering with the Pend Oreille Conservation District in watershed planning, non-point issues, and development of a bull trout recovery plan. The Council participates in the Water Quality Committee of the Pend Oreille Public Utility District which is responsible for negotiating the agreement.
WATER QUALITY MONITORING
As part of the TMDL process specific monitoring was conducted in 2004. The overall objective of this project was to monitor physical, chemical, and biological water quality parameters in the Pend Oreille River, Idaho, in order to provide the State of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) with baseline information to aid in the determination of beneficial use support status.
The Washington State Department of Ecology monitors some water quality factors on the Pend Oreille River. Information about the two monitoring sites on the Pend Oreille River are on the Newport station and Metaline Falls station web pages. More information about DOE's monitoring program is on the River and Stream Water Quality Monitoring web page.
KALISPEL TRIBE OF INDIANS
The Kalispel Tribe of Indians operates its own water quality monitoring program on the Pend Oreille River, as well as a bass hatchery. The Tribe is also actively involved in many area water resource projects. For more information, contact John Gross at jgross@knrd.org.
PEND OREILLE CONSERVATION DISTRICT
The Council also participated in meetings of the Pend Oreille County, Washington planning group, called the Watershed Implementation Team. This group, under the lead of the Pend Oreille Conservation District, is working to implement water quality and water quantity protections and improvements that are contained in Washington's recently completed management plan for the River. For more information about the activities of this agency, visit their web site at: www.pocd.org