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Beneficial use attainability assessments of streams in the Lake Coeur d'Alene Basin, Idaho Item Info

Protection and restoration of water bodies within the Lake Coeur d'Alene basin in northern Idaho, are two primary goals of the Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Project. The Project provides a mechanism for the coordination of various programs and activities designed to achieve these goals. The Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Project Framework is a roadmap for environmental protection and restoration of the basin. A task outlined in the framework, is the identification of attainable uses of stream segments in the basin. This task is the primary objective of this study. Recovery of beneficial uses of water bodies impacted by past land use activities is best assessed by in-stream water quality monitoring with results compared to specific water quality criteria. The beneficial uses of any given water body determine a set of water quality criteria necessary to support those beneficial uses. For this reason, beneficial use attainability assessments were conducted on a wide range of stream segments in the basin. Other objectives of the Coeur d'Alene Basin use attainability analysis are to: refine existing chemical water quality criteria and determine physical habitat and biological criteria necessary to support specific beneficial uses; and assess the status of beneficial uses of waters in the basin. Essentially, beneficial support status as determined by the current study provides a qualitative indication of the current support level of uses deemed attainable for a given waterbody; refined water quality criteria quantitatively identify the desired future condition necessary to achieve full support of beneficial uses. Future monitoring of beneficial use recovery will utilize quanitiative water quality criteria to gauge restoration success. In meeting the study objectives, this study reviewed beneficial use designations currently incorporated in the Idaho Water Quality Standards. A total of 21 streams have use designations in the Lake Coeur d'Alene basin, of which 11 were verified. This study identifies the need to revise the remaining use designations to accurately reflect the actual attainable and existing uses. An additional 155 streams in the basin were assigned beneficial use classifications based on a structured scientific approach set forth in Idaho's standard use attainability protocol. This study documents the attainable and existing beneficial uses for a wide range of water bodies in the Lake Coeur d'Alene basin based on background information provided by cooperating agencies and field verification results from the IDEO 1992 field surveys. In addition, the status of beneficial uses (full support, partial support or non-support) in the basin is assessed. The information generated in the study provides the impetus for anticipated revisions and inclusions of use designations in the Idaho Water Quality Standards, which are necessary for protection and restoration of water quality in the basin. The study results also provide background information necessary for subsequent monitoring of remediation project effectiveness on water quality impaired segments in the basin.

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Title:
Beneficial use attainability assessments of streams in the Lake Coeur d'Alene Basin, Idaho
Authors:
Hartz, M.
Date Created (ISO Standard):
1993-01
Description:
Protection and restoration of water bodies within the Lake Coeur d'Alene basin in northern Idaho, are two primary goals of the Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Project. The Project provides a mechanism for the coordination of various programs and activities designed to achieve these goals. The Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Project Framework is a roadmap for environmental protection and restoration of the basin. A task outlined in the framework, is the identification of attainable uses of stream segments in the basin. This task is the primary objective of this study. Recovery of beneficial uses of water bodies impacted by past land use activities is best assessed by in-stream water quality monitoring with results compared to specific water quality criteria. The beneficial uses of any given water body determine a set of water quality criteria necessary to support those beneficial uses. For this reason, beneficial use attainability assessments were conducted on a wide range of stream segments in the basin. Other objectives of the Coeur d'Alene Basin use attainability analysis are to: refine existing chemical water quality criteria and determine physical habitat and biological criteria necessary to support specific beneficial uses; and assess the status of beneficial uses of waters in the basin. Essentially, beneficial support status as determined by the current study provides a qualitative indication of the current support level of uses deemed attainable for a given waterbody; refined water quality criteria quantitatively identify the desired future condition necessary to achieve full support of beneficial uses. Future monitoring of beneficial use recovery will utilize quanitiative water quality criteria to gauge restoration success. In meeting the study objectives, this study reviewed beneficial use designations currently incorporated in the Idaho Water Quality Standards. A total of 21 streams have use designations in the Lake Coeur d'Alene basin, of which 11 were verified. This study identifies the need to revise the remaining use designations to accurately reflect the actual attainable and existing uses. An additional 155 streams in the basin were assigned beneficial use classifications based on a structured scientific approach set forth in Idaho's standard use attainability protocol. This study documents the attainable and existing beneficial uses for a wide range of water bodies in the Lake Coeur d'Alene basin based on background information provided by cooperating agencies and field verification results from the IDEO 1992 field surveys. In addition, the status of beneficial uses (full support, partial support or non-support) in the basin is assessed. The information generated in the study provides the impetus for anticipated revisions and inclusions of use designations in the Idaho Water Quality Standards, which are necessary for protection and restoration of water quality in the basin. The study results also provide background information necessary for subsequent monitoring of remediation project effectiveness on water quality impaired segments in the basin.
Subjects:
watershed protection watershed management rehabilitation water quality
Location:
Coeur d'Alene Basin
Latitude:
47.52
Longitude:
-116.49
Collection:
Coeur d'Alene Basin
Rights:
Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
Publisher:
Idaho Health and Welfare, Division of Environmental Quality
Contributing Institution:
University of Idaho
Type:
Text
Format:
application/pdf
Cataloger:
wbv
Date Digitized:
2012

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Source
Preferred Citation:
"Beneficial use attainability assessments of streams in the Lake Coeur d'Alene Basin, Idaho", Idaho Waters Digital Library, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/iwdl/items/iwdl-cda_hartz_1993.html
Rights
Rights:
Rights to the digital resource are held by the University of Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/
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