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.”…
EPA Press Office WASHINGTON – Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced the FY 2022 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results report, highlighting increased inspections in the aftermath of the pandemic, reductions in significant noncompliance under the Clean Water Act, and aggressive actions to target the most serious water, air, land, and chemical violations that impact communities across the countryTaken together, OECA’s criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement cases reduced, treated or eliminated pollutants by 95 million pounds and required violators to pay over $300 million in penalties, fines and restitution. In keeping with EPA’s Strategic Plan, OECA focused on working to mitigate the effects of climate change and advance environmental justice in the enforcement program.“In FY 2022, EPA’s enforcement and compliance program used a…
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,…
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…
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…
By Isabella Breda; The Spokesman Review SEATTLE - In a reversal of Trump administration policies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week reinstated federal water quality standards for chemicals discharged into Washington state waterways. The final rule signed Monday would ensure polluters stay within federally established levels of chemicals or conditions in a body of water that are not expected to cause adverse health effects. Through the years, the water quality standard for polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs — chemicals found in dyes, paint, building materials, coolants and other products — have been a point of contention. Industry leaders, like paper and pulp manufacturers, previously argued there was no technology available to bring wastewater discharge of PCBs to the low levels that were required. Sometimes these standards are aspirational, said Bill…
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…
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…
Each year on November 15, millions of people across the United States take part in America Recycles Day. The day raises awareness about recycling and the purchasing of recycled products. How we recycle and reuse products are important. For example, one-use water bottles flood America’s waterways and landfills at a rate of 60 million per day. Reducing this number can be achieved with water filtration devices and using portable re-usable drinking bottles and cups.
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…
