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Assessing the impacts of mining on the Transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir Active

By Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center May 13, 2022

Lead Researcher: Travis Schmidt

Project Manager: Melissa Schaar 

Water-Quality Field Lead: Chad Reese

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Lake Koocanusa Water-Quality Sampling
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Operation and maintenance of the equipment on the sampling platform requires a boat ride to the center of the lake.

In 2019, the USGS began a water-quality monitoring program in Lake Koocanusa (also known as Koocanusa Reservoir) and at a site on the Kootenai River downstream of Libby Dam to provide high-frequency water-quality data for Federal, State, Provincial, and Tribal entities in the United States and Canada. Objectives of this study are to

  1. Collect water-quality samples from multiple depths,
  2. Collect continuous vertical profile data to understand limnological processes contributing to variations in selenium concentrations, and
  3. Collect time-series samples to compare to an established baseline dataset of selenium concentrations throughout the reservoir.

Monitoring water quality (and fish populations) in Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River has been a collaborative effort since at least 1967, when the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the USGS began collecting water samples (Easthouse, 2013) to better understand the relation between Libby Dam operations on the reservoir and downstream effects on the Kootenai River. Monitoring and research by these and other agencies have increased recently because of concerns of a potential increased selenium concentrations in the basin, and a need to better understand the biogeochemical dynamics and ecological effects of selenium in the basin (Presser and Naftz, 2020).

Water-quality data collection in the center of Lake Koocanusa requires a specialized platform to house sampling equipment, sensors, and electronics that transmit data to the internet in real-time during the sampling season.

Koocanusa Reservoir pontoon platform
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Schematic diagram of the Koocanusa Reservoir pontoon platform developed by Thomas Chapin, USGS.
Koocanusa Reservoir sampling platform
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Koocanusa Reservoir sampling platform

 

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Kootenai River near Leonia, Idaho

Monitoring Mining Effects in the Kootenai River Watershed

The Kootenai River (Kootenay in Canada) rises from the Canadian Rockies and flows south in an arc through Montana and Idaho before swinging back into British Columbia and the Columbia River. The uplifted sedimentary rocks forming the southern Canadian Rockies have rich coal deposits that have been mined for many decades. The coal beds and associated rock layers are enriched with other minerals as...
By
Idaho Water Science Center
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Monitoring Mining Effects in the Kootenai River Watershed

The Kootenai River (Kootenay in Canada) rises from the Canadian Rockies and flows south in an arc through Montana and Idaho before swinging back into British Columbia and the Columbia River. The uplifted sedimentary rocks forming the southern Canadian Rockies have rich coal deposits that have been mined for many decades. The coal beds and associated rock layers are enriched with other minerals as...
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Kootenay River looking upstream from boat launch near Goat River, Creston, BC.

Developing CE-QUAL-W2 Models of the Kootenai River and Koocanusa Reservoir, Montana and Idaho

The construction and operation of Libby Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project located in northwestern Montana, has altered the natural hydrograph, thermal regime, sediment transport, and nutrient loadings on the Kootenai River. Dam operation impacts riverine ecosystem function and many fish species, including the federally endangered Kootenai River White Sturgeon and federally...
By
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
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Developing CE-QUAL-W2 Models of the Kootenai River and Koocanusa Reservoir, Montana and Idaho

The construction and operation of Libby Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project located in northwestern Montana, has altered the natural hydrograph, thermal regime, sediment transport, and nutrient loadings on the Kootenai River. Dam operation impacts riverine ecosystem function and many fish species, including the federally endangered Kootenai River White Sturgeon and federally...
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Data releases associated with the project

Fish Tissue Analysis Results, Koocanusa Reservoir, Montana, 2021

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (MT FWP), in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center (WY-MT WSC), Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) collected fish from the Koocanusa Reservoir in 2021 for tissue analysis. Fish tissue collected included muscle, eggs, liver, an
By
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Input Files and WRTDS Model Output for the two major tributaries of Lake Koocanusa

Canadian discrete water quality data and daily streamflow records were evaluated using the Weighted Regression on Time, Discharge, and Seasons (WRTDS) model implemented with the EGRET R package (Hirsch et al. 2010, Hirsch and De Cicco 2015). Models were used to estimate loads of solutes and evaluate trends for three constituents of interest (selenium, nitrogen, and sulfate). Six models were genera
By
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Results of Ecosystem Scale Selenium Modeling in Support of Site-Specific Guidelines Development for Lake Koocanusa, Montana, U.S.A., and British Columbia, Canada, 2020

This data release and accompanying spreadsheet illustrate the ecosystem scale selenium model for Lake Koocanusa described in USGS Open-File Report 2020-1098, "Understanding and Documenting the Scientific Basis of Selenium Ecological Protection in Support of Site-Specific Guidelines Development for Lake Koocanusa, Montana, U.S.A., and British Columbia, Canada." All report sections, equations, and t
By
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Selenium concentrations in food webs of Lake Koocanusa in the vicinity of Libby Dam (MT) and the Elk River (BC) as the basis for applying ecosystem-scale modeling, 2008-2018

This Data Release presents multi-agency data for selenium concentrations in ecosystem media that includes water column, suspended particulate material, zooplankton, invertebrates, and fish. Because the data are compiled from multiple sources, the significant figures used to report contaminant concentrations and other metrics may not be internally consistent. These data will serve as the basis for
By
Water Resources Mission Area

USGS Measurements of Dissolved and Suspended Particulate Material Selenium in Lake Koocanusa in the Vicinity of Libby Dam (MT), 2015-2017 (update)

The U.S. Geological Survey is studying Lake Koocanusa, a border reservoir between British Columbia in Canada and Montana, in collaboration with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 8). This work is part of a multi-agency project to apply an ecosystem-scale selenium modeling methodology (Presser and Luoma, 2010) to the lake to support
By
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

USGS Measurements of Dissolved and Particulate Material Selenium in Lake Koocanusa in the vicinity of Libby Dam (MT), 2015-2016

The U.S. Geological Survey is studying Lake Koocanusa, a border reservoir between British Columbia in Canada and Montana, in collaboration with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 8). This work is part of a multi-agency project to apply an ecosystem-scale selenium modeling methodology (Presser and Luoma, 2010) to the lake to support
By
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Growth of coal mining operations in the Elk River Valley linked to increasing transport of selenium, nitrate, and sulfate into Koocanusa Reservoir

New journal article describes link between coal mining and selenium concentrati…

Growth of coal mining operations in the Elk River Valley (Canada) linked to increasing solute transport of Se, NO3-, and SO42- into the transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir (USA-Canada)

Koocanusa Reservoir (KOC) is a waterbody that spans the United States (U.S.) and Canadian border. Increasing concentrations of total selenium (Se), nitrate + nitrite (NO3–, nitrite is insignificant or not present), and sulfate (SO42–) in KOC and downstream in the Kootenai River (Kootenay River in Canada) are tied to expanding coal mining operations in the Elk River Watershed, Canada. Using a paire
Authors
Meryl Biesiot Storb, Ashley Morgan Bussell, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Robert M. Hirsch, Travis S. Schmidt
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Fort Collins Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Sampling and analysis plan for the Koocanusa Reservoir and upper Kootenai River, Montana, water-quality monitoring program, 2021

In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey will collect water-quality samples and environmental data from 3 sites in Koocanusa Reservoir and from 1 site in the Kootenai River. The transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir is in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northwestern Montana, United States, and was formed with the construction of Libby Dam on the Kootenai River 26 kilometers upstream from Libby,
Authors
Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Melissa A. Schaar, Chad B. Reese, Ashley M. Bussell, Thomas Chapin
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Selenium in the Kootenai River Basin, Montana and Idaho, United States, and British Columbia, Canada

Selenium entering the 90-mile long transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir (also called Lake Koocanusa) in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northwestern Montana, United States, has been measured at concentrations above State and Federal water-quality and aquatic life standards. The reservoir is within the international Kootenai (or “Kootenay” in Canada) drainage basin, which contains critical
Authors
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Idaho Water Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Understanding and documenting the scientific basis of selenium ecological protection in support of site-specific guidelines development for Lake Koocanusa, Montana, U.S.A., and British Columbia, Canada

Modeling of ecosystems is a part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s protocol for developing site-specific selenium guidelines for protection of aquatic life. Selenium as an environmental contaminant is known to bioaccumulate and cause reproductive effects in fish and wildlife. Here we apply a modeling methodology—ecosystem-scale selenium modeling—to understand and document the scientifi
Authors
Theresa S. Presser, David L. Naftz
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Conceptual modeling framework to support development of site-specific selenium criteria for Lake Koocanusa, Montana, U.S.A., and British Columbia, Canada

The U.S. Geological Survey, working with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Strategy, has developed a conceptual modeling framework that can be used to provide structured and scientifically based input to the Lake Koocanusa Monitoring and Research Working Group as they consider potential site-specific selenium cri
Authors
Karen E. Jenni, David L. Naftz, Theresa S. Presser
By
Science and Decisions Center

Annual Nutrient Loadings, Primary Productivity, and Trophic State of Lake Koocanusa, Montana and British Columbia, 1972-80

Limnological data collected at Lake Koocanusa were used to investigate the relationship of nutrient loadings, primary productivity, and trophic state of the reservoir during 1972-80. The reservoir, on the Kootenai River, was impounded by Libby Dam on March 21, 1972. Manipulation of the 7.16-cubic-kilometer reservoir for flood control, its primary function, created large fluctuations in reservoir v
Authors
Paul F. Woods

Transboundary Watersheds Geonarrative

Explore the geonarrative highlighting USGS research activities in transboundary watersheds in the northwest. The USGS is establishing baseline water quality conditions in rivers that cross the US-Canadian border.

By
Water Resources Mission Area, Washington Water Science Center

Below are partners associated with this project.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho

Montana Department of Environmental Quality

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service