06Jan 2023 by Nicole Rinaldi

Idaho DEQ awards more than $59 million to municipalities for water improvements

Idaho News
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris; Idaho Capital Sun (Getty Images) The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality announced grant awards of more than $59 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to improve 11 drinking water and wastewater systems across the state, according to a press release. The $59.1 million in construction grants are part of $300 million distributed through the State Revolving Loan Fund in 2022 and Gov. Brad Little’s Leading Idaho initiative. “Water is our most valuable resource, and we absolutely must keep up the infrastructure to ensure water is clean and plentiful for this generation and future ones,” Little said in the release. “These investments also could keep your property taxes low. Property taxes are determined locally, but the investments we made in water and other infrastructure needs at…
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27Dec 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

About Facebook Kuna’s power, water, tax incentives, employees, roads — and urban renewal

Idaho News
By Margaret Carmel; BoiseDev Proposed data center for Meta Platforms Inc. in Kuna, Idaho. Via Meta Facebook’s parent company Meta announced this week it’s bringing a new data center to town and with it came a slew of questions. Two years after Governor Brad Little signed legislation giving a tax break for data centers, Meta announced to great fanfare its plans to bring a facility to Kuna and bring 1,200 jobs and water infrastructure with it. But, how will this project impact industrial growth east of Kuna? What will Meta’s promised water project look like? Here’s what we know (and don’t know) so far. Water, water, water There are still a lot of unanswered questions about Meta’s promise to “add more water than we consume” to Boise’s watershed. Aaron Scheff,…
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21Dec 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

EPA Announces $263 Million WIFIA Loan to Boise, Idaho to Modernize Wastewater Infrastructure and help recharge the Boise River water supply

Idaho News, National News
WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $263 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan to the City of Boise, Idaho, to support its Water Renewal Services Capital Investments Project. With this WIFIA loan, EPA is helping the City of Boise improve wastewater treatment processes to protect the Boise River’s water quality and ultimately recharge the drought burdened Boise River with high quality effluent. “Maintaining and upgrading water infrastructure is essential for the health of a community like Boise, which is a fast-growing city struggling with drought,” EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said. “Thanks to this WIFIA loan, the City of Boise can upgrade wastewater treatment technology to better safeguard the Boise River and even help recharge its water supply while providing good-paying jobs.”…
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14Dec 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Idaho Transportation Department confirms oil leaking into Lake Coeur d’Alene

Idaho News
By Bill Buley; KREM 2 Credit: Coeur d'Alene Press COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The Idaho Transportation Department confirmed Monday that oil is leaking from construction equipment that fell into Lake Coeur d'Alene more than 30 years ago, reports the Coeur d'Alene Press. A sheen of oil observed on the water near Higgens Point was first reported on social media late Wednesday. ITD and Department of Environmental Quality officials surveyed the site Thursday morning and containment booms were set along about 75 feet of shoreline. "We will be adding additional booms to try to keep the oil away from the shoreline and contain it," wrote Megan Jahns, Idaho Transportation Department spokeswoman. A diver on Friday was unable to see the source of the leak due to darkness. Another dive is expected…
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28Nov 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Idaho Water Resource Board invests in aquifer recharge, irrigation efficiency projects

Idaho News
Capital Press The Idaho Water Resource Board’s Milepost 31 Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer recharge site. Projects adding to recharge capacity are among those funded by the board Nov. 18. Boosting aquifer levels and improving irrigation delivery efficiency are the focus of Idaho Water Resource Board moves to financially support several projects in the state’s south-central and southeast regions. The board Nov. 18 approved a $14.1 million loan to Raft River Recharge Group. Plans call for building a pump station on the Snake River, a 13-mile pipeline, and recharge basins to add water to a declining aquifer in a state-designated critical groundwater management area. The declining aquifer levels are a key factor in intermittent surface flows on the Raft River, a Snake tributary. Most farmers are now pumping groundwater for irrigation,…
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23Nov 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Cold temps promising for snowpack, but Idaho’s drought outlook for 2023 unclear

Idaho News
By Erin Banks Rusby; Idaho Press Snowpack at Bogus Basin in Boise, Idaho. The normal high temperature for Boise on Nov. 9 is 52 degrees. But this year on that day, the high was just in the 30s. Even in mid-November, Boise’s normal highs are in the 40s, said Troy Lindquist, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service. That said, the Treasure Valley’s recent cold weather in tandem with the snow that fell is good news for Idaho’s water supply, he said. “That’s nearly 20 degrees below normal, for Boise, so it’s definitely going to be chilly,” Lindquist said during a meeting earlier this month about the outlook for Idaho’s water supply over the next year. “The nice thing about this is we’ve got a fast start to our…
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18Nov 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

New study of Lake Coeur d’Alene shows water quality gradually improving

Idaho News
Spokane Public Radio The new study says heavy metals, phosphorus levels are steadily decreasing. Doug Nadvornick/Spokane Public Radio A National Academy of Sciences draft report concludes the quality of the water in Lake Coeur d’Alene has improved over the years. The report was shared this week at a symposium in Coeur d’Alene. Dan McCracken from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality says the study found that the main sources of pollution — heavy metals and phosphorus — are entering the lake at lower levels than in the past. “Although we are still a long ways away from where we want to be, we’re starting to see some water quality improvements, just in the last five-to-10 years. Metals loading, coming from the upper Coeur d’Alene River, has consistently been improving since…
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01Nov 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Water issues seminar to be part of Idaho Farm Bureau annual meeting

Idaho News
Capital Press State and regional water issues are to be discussed in a joint seminar slated as part of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation’s Dec. 6-8 annual meeting in Boise. The seminar is scheduled at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 6 at the Riverside Hotel, 2900 Chinden Blvd. The Farm Bureau, the Idaho Water Users Association and the state Grain Producers Association will host it. It is expected to be well attended as it will provide important updates and background information on major water issues, said Sean Ellis, a Farm Bureau spokesman. The Nez Perce Agreement and issues in the Snake and Columbia river basins — including legal challenges to a fisheries-related biological opinion on the four Lower Snake River dams — are among topics to be addressed. A 2004 agreement between…
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26Oct 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Feds Sue Driggs, Idaho for Excess Pollutants in Wastewater

Idaho News, National News
Bloomberg Law The City of Driggs, Idaho illegally discharged pollutants from its sewer system, the US says in a lawsuit alleging violations of the Clean Water Act. Driggs’ wastewater treatment plant and sewage collection system failed to comply with the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, which allowed it to release wastewater from an outfall if it followed certain discharge limits, according to the lawsuit. The complaint, filed Monday in the US District Court for the District of Idaho, says the city didn’t comply with the permit’s limits for E. coli, ammonia, and other biochemicals on various days within the past five years. Some sampling records lacked signatures, dates, and times, the lawsuit said. The EPA entered into a consent agreement with the city in 2018 to resolve the…
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19Oct 2022 by Nicole Rinaldi

Kooskia council approves $100,000 for water facility plan

Idaho News
By Hannah Hale; Idaho Free County Press Kooskia City Hall. Free Press Archives KOOSKIA — During a meeting on Oct. 12, the Kooskia City Council discussed the sewer project and the water facility plan, both set to improve these municipal systems. Michelle Bly from TD & H Engineering spoke to the council and provided insight into the legalities of the sewer projects. The first topic discussed was the sewer project. The engineering and developing portion of this project, headed by Mountain WW, has created a “blueprint” of what needs to be done to the sewer system to keep it functional. There is about 3,200 feet of sewer line that needs to be fixed. After being submitted to Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which is the state agency that looks…
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