Surface water resources in the Idaho Falls Region provide a respite from an otherwise arid landscape and attract recreationists from around the country for world-class fishing and rafting. Surface waters are also used to irrigate thousands of acres of agricultural fields, including those that grow Idaho's famous potatoes. Simultaneously using and protecting these surface water resources requires balancing the needs of humans and of nature.  

DEQ is required to complete water quality improvement plans, called "total maximum daily loads (TMDLs)," for all water bodies that do not meet water quality standards.  The goal of a TMDL is to set limits on pollutant levels in water bodies that don't meet standards so that they will in the future.

The Idaho Falls Regional Office is ahead of its court-mandated schedule (pdf 183 kb, 54 pages)for developing TMDLs. TMDLs and/or subbasin assessments have been completed for 16 of 17 subbasins in the region (some subbasins have been divided, so there are more than 16 individual TMDL documents). Most of these have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the rest have been or will soon be submitted for approval. The Idaho Falls Region is working with the Boise Region to develop a TMDL for the Middle Fork Salmon River, the one remaining TMDL in the region. This should be finished by December 2006. 

Once a TMDL is complete, programs are implemented to improve water quality and achieve TMDL goals.  The Idaho Falls Regional Office implements water quality projects through partnerships with its watershed advisory groups, local organizations, and other governmental agencies. These groups have received approximately $500,000 in §319 grant monies for water quality improvement projects and have cooperated in programs to create settling ponds, restore streams, monitor trends, and track implementation progress. In 2003, the Medicine Lodge Creek (pdf 1.7 mb, 10 pages) implementation project was named one of four outstanding Idaho §319 projects based on its exceptional coordination, design, and implementation.

The Blackbird Mine is an inactive mine in Lemhi County, about 20 miles west of the city of Salmon in the Salmon National Forest. Historically, cobalt, gold, silver, and copper ore were extracted from underground and open pit mining operations. In May 1993, EPA proposed the site be placed on its National Priorities List for further investigation and possible cleanup under Superfund authorities.

DEQ is actively involved in the remediation of the Blackbird site, along with EPA, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the mining companies. Overall, the remediation project consists of removing metals-contaminated rock tailings, removing contaminated soils from flood plains, capturing and treating contaminated ground and surface waters, and intensive monitoring.   

DEQ's Idaho Falls Regional Office is leading an investigation to quantify metals load reductions in streams and an investigation into "passive" treatment technologies that save money and infrastructure costs for the responsible parties.  More (U.S. EPA Web site). 

DEQ is working with EPA to clean up a site in Ashton, Idaho, which has been the source of a petroleum release from underground storage tank systems. DEQ had been working with the previous owner of the site (a retail gas station) to clean up an existing release. A new owner purchased the facility and installed new, state-of-the-art, storage tanks. A release from this new system was discovered in 2003. Because this release threatens waters of the United States (the Henry's Fork River), it is eligible for Oil Pollution Act funding through EPA.

EPA had employed a passive treatment system to attempt to remediate ground water contamination at the site, but switched to an active treatment system in spring 2005 and recovered over 1,000 gallons of gasoline in the first few months. EPA will continue to remediate the site until it is no longer a threat to waters of the United States. DEQ is in the process of purchasing the remediation equipment from EPA in an effort to continue remediation efforts at the conclusion of EPA responsibilities to ensure ground water is protected.

It does not appear that drinking water wells for the city of Ashton have been affected; however, some private drinking water wells may have been affected. DEQ has paid to have one household with a private well connected to city water and has extended the same offer to others. DEQ has also installed a vapor mitigation system for one household with high vapor concentrations.

More on site cleanup (U.S. EPA Web site). 

Idaho Falls Regional Office staff have conducted source water assessments on all public drinking water sources in the region.  These assessments provide information on the potential contaminant threats to public drinking water sources and are often used by communities to develop drinking water protection plans. 

When drinking water quality is threatened, regional staff work with local communities to ensure safe drinking water. For instance, the city of Newdale has naturally occurring high levels of fluoride in its water that cause the city's water supply to exceed allowable maximum contaminant levels. Similarly, the cities of Newdale and Teton both have arsenic in their water supplies that will exceed a new arsenic maximum contaminant level of 10 parts per billion once that standard becomes effective in January 2006 (the current standard is 50 parts per billion; both cities' water supplies meet this standard). 

DEQ is working with these communities to assist them in meeting fluoride and arsenic standards. DEQ regional office staff are also working with these and other communities to secure drinking water planning grants and construction loans to ensure safe and adequate supplies of drinking water for the future.