Water Quality

Two species of aquatic snails, the Banbury Springs limpet ( Idaholanx fresti ) and the Bliss Rapids snail ( Taylorconcha serpenticola ) live in springs along the middle Snake River in south-central Idaho. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed these species as Endangered (Banbury Springs limpet) and Threatened (Bliss Rapids snail). Both species need clean, cold spring water to survive.

Groundwater-quality and groundwater-level data have been collected by the USGS and various state agencies in the mid-Snake area since at least the early 1990s. However, no trend analyses have been conducted on the data since 2012. Assessing groundwater-quality trends will help resource managers determine if they should continue or modify current nutrient management practices. Groundwater-level...

In cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, we sampled groundwater from 15 wells during spring 2018 near the city of Marsing in rural northwestern Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, nutrients, trace elements, major inorganics, and dissolved gas, including methane. To examine trends in individual wells and in the region, ammonia and...

Numerical models are being used to better understand the flow of groundwater and the transport of radiochemical and chemical constituents in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system. The models, developed at the INL, afford scientists a framework to organize their knowledge and concepts of groundwater systems and to provide insights for water-resource managers for future water demands and...

The upper Blackfoot River receives runoff from 12 large phosphate mines. Shale waste rock that is a byproduct of mining is highly enriched in naturally occurring selenium. At optimal concentrations, selenium can be a positive nutrient and antioxidant in mammals and fish. At elevated concentrations, however, it can damage fish and animal immune systems. As early as 1996, livestock deaths attributed...

The Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) is the largest privately owned hydroelectric power complex in the United States. Upstream are millions of acres of irrigated agricultural lands and Idaho’s largest metropolitan area clustered around the state capital Boise. Downstream lie confluences with the Salmon and Clearwater Rivers, critical habitat for threatened bull trout and fall chinook salmon. Elevated...

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.

Nutrient enrichment can affect the ecological health of a stream. For example, excessive aquatic plant growth caused by increased nutrients can reduce dissolved oxygen necessary for other aquatic life. Topics of particular interest in this study area include: seasonal patterns among nutrients, flows, algae and plants in streams rooted aquatic plant vs. algae growth stream metabolism and nutrient...

Because fluvial sediment poses both economic and ecological problems, resource managers need a safe, cost-effective way to measure sediment in streams, particularly in remote areas.

Sedimentation of Lower Granite Reservoir, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, affects commercial navigation and reservoir storage capacity. Some groups are concerned that dredging the reservoir to remove excess sediment may negatively affect endangered species such as steelhead and salmon.

Some groups are concerned that dredging the reservoir and the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers to remove excess sediment may mobilize contaminants in sediment that could negatively affect endangered species such as steelhead and salmon.

Are there ways to manage sediment before it accumulates in Lower Granite Reservoir? If so, resource managers must know exactly how much sediment is being transported in the lower Snake and Clearwater River basins, the grain-size distribution of the sediment that is being transported, which subbasins are contributing the most sediment, and how the sediment is being deposited once it is delivered to...