Trace Metals

From 1989 to 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, monitored trends in water quality and biological integrity at more than 50 USGS streamgage stations on rivers throughout Idaho. In 2018, multiple State and Federal partners restarted a portion of the Large River Ambient Monitoring (LRAM) network.

As part of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, it is important to evaluate the effect of Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) activities on the water quality of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer.

Mining of stibnite (antimony sulfide), tungsten, gold, silver, and mercury near the town of Stibnite in central Idaho has left a legacy of trace element contamination in the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River (EFSFSR) and its tributaries. Concentrations of arsenic, antimony, and mercury frequently exceed human health criteria and may impact threatened or endangered salmonid species...

We partner with the EPA to conduct long-term water-quality and streamflow monitoring in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin, which has been widely impacted by historic mining activities.

Historically, Idaho has been home to many productive underground and open-pit mining operations. These activities have also produced water quality problems in some areas. One such example is the Blackbird Mine in central Idaho. Following mining operations from the 1940s through the 1960s, Panther Creek and its tributaries were severely damaged by runoff from the Blackbird Mine. Water-quality...

The mining district in the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River valley was among the Nation’s largest producers of silver, lead, zinc, and other metals from the 1880s to the 1980s. These activities have produced large quantities of waste material that contain environmentally hazardous contaminants such as cadmium, lead, and zinc. Much of this material has been discharged directly to or washed into the...