 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Water Quality Studies
Water Quality Data
The best source for water quality data for the lower Boise River is the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS has been the agency responsible for water quality testing, and has tools available on their web site to help you access the data:
http://id.water.usgs.gov/projects/lwr_boise/index.html
The USGS and others have also published a number of technical reports that pertain to the Lower Boise watershed, which are provided on the Related Links page under Published Reports.
Other local data sources include the following:
Pollutant Trading Pilot Project
The Lower Boise River Effluent Trading Demonstration Project is the first effluent trading project in the Pacific Northwest. Effluent trading is a way to help improve water quality by focusing on cost-effective, local solutions to problems caused by pollutant discharges to surface waters. Typically, a party facing relatively high pollutant-reduction costs chooses to compensate another party to achieve an equivalent or better, though less costly, pollutant reduction. Parties trade only if both are better off as a result of the trade.
The Lower Boise project was initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 (EPA) and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to examine how effluent trading can help improve water quality and lower the overall cost of meeting pollutant-reduction objectives established by Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) processes. Participants in the project included wide representation from federal, state and local agencies with water-quality responsibilities, agriculture, municipalities, industry and the environmental community.
For more information and the full report on the Pollutant Trading Pilot Project, see the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality web site or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 web site.