Pend Oreille Lake Subbasin

Data	Details
Hydrologic Unit Code	17010214
Size	70 square miles (44,740 acres)
Water Bodies with EPA-Approved TMDLs (Category 4a)	Berry Creek, Caribou Creek, Cedar Creek, Cheer Creek, Chloride Creek, Chloride Gulch, Cocolalla Creek, Cocolalla Lake, Colburn Creek, Fish Creek, Gold Creek, Granite Creek, Grouse Creek, Hellroaring Creek, Hoodoo Creek, Jeru Creek, Little Sand Creek, McCormick Creek, North Fork Grouse Creek, Pend Oreille Lake, Rapid Lightning Creek, Sand Creek, Schweitzer Creek, Spring Jack Creek, Swede Creek, Trestle Creek, Trout Creek, Upper and Lower Pack River, West and North Gold Creeks
Beneficial Uses Affected	Water supply, recreation, salmonid spawning, cold water aquatic life, wildlife habitat, aesthetics
Major Land Uses	Forestry, urban, shrubland, wetland, pasture/cropland
Date Approved by EPA	October 2002 EPA Approval Letter
Dates Clark Fork-Pend Oreille TMDL Approved by EPA	April 2001 EPA Approval Letter September 2000 EPA Approval Letter
Date Temperature TMDL Addendum Approved by EPA	April 2008 EPA Approval Letter
Date Sediment TMDL Addendum Approved by EPA	January 2008 EPA Approval Letter
Date Pack River Nutrients TMDL Addendum Approved by EPA	December 2008 EPA Approval Letter

Subbasin Characteristics

Lake Pend Oreille is part of the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Basin, which lies in western Montana, northern Idaho, and northeastern Washington. The Clark Fork River begins near Butte, Montana, and drains an extensive area of western Montana before entering Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho at the lake’s northeast corner. The lake is the source of the Pend Oreille River in northeastern Washington, which ultimately drains to the Columbia River.

2002 Subbasin Assessment and TMDL

Lake Pend Oreille was placed on Idaho’s 1994 §303(d) list as a “threatened” water body and retained on the 1996 and 1998 lists. Because of this listing, DEQ prepared a problem assessment for the lake, which recommended developing a TMDL for the nearshore waters of the lake to mitigate increasing eutrophication along the shoreline. This TMDL addresses this recommendation.

2002 TMDL: Streams and Pollutant for Which TMDLs Were Developed

Stream	Pollutants
Nearshore waters of Lake Pend Oreille	Total phosphorus

2001 Clark Fork–Pend Oreille Watershed Assessment and TMDL

This watershed spans two subbasins and is summarized in the table below.

Data	Details
Hydrologic Unit Codes	17010213 (Lower Clark Fork Subbasin) 17010214 (Pend Oreille Lake Subbasin)
Size	25,000 square miles (16,000,000 acres) in Idaho and Montana
Beneficial Uses Affected	Cold water aquatic life, salmonid spawning, warm water biota, primary contact recreation, secondary contact recreation, agricultural water supply, industrial water supply, domestic water supply
Major Land Uses	Agriculture, grazing, roads, hydropower, mining, timber harvest, urban, recreation

These water bodies are located in the Lower Clark Fork subbasin (hydrologic unit code 17010213). They are analyzed in the Clark Fork/Pend Oreille subbasin assessment document and are assigned TMDLs in the Lower Clark Fork River Subbasin Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Loads developed in 2007. The Clark Fork-Pend Oreille watershed lies in western Montana, northern Idaho, and northeastern Washington. The watershed is the source of the water that enters and leaves Lake Pend Oreille, the largest and deepest natural lake in Idaho. Inflow and outflow of the lake are regulated by hydroelectric facilities. The Pend Oreille portion of this subbasin assessment examined 11 streams, 1 major river, and 2 lakes. Of the 11 streams, 5 were water quality impaired and required load allocations, primarily for sediment. Both Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River were found to fully support their beneficial uses and were recommended for delisting. The Clark Fork portion of this subbasin assessment was tabled until its scheduled assessment date in 2004. Insufficient time to complete the assessment and the prospect of more data available at that time drove this decision.

2001 TMDL: Streams and Pollutants for Which TMDLs Were Developed

Stream	Pollutants
Cocolalla Creek (lower)	Sediment
Cocolalla Creek (upper)	Sediment
North Fork Grouse Creek	Sediment
Hoodoo Creek	Sediment
Pack River	Sediment
Cocolalla Lake	Phosphorus

2007 Clark Fork - Pend Oreille Addendum: Nutrients

This document addresses streams in the Pack River watershed that have been placed on Idaho’s §303(d) list. This document only addresses nutrient impairments for the Pack River watershed, which is located in the Pend Oreille Lake subbasin in northern Idaho. The Pack River watershed encompasses approximately 185,600 acres.

The Pack River and its tributaries have been identified as impaired due to causes unknown. Stressor identification reports were completed for all assessment units impaired by causes unknown, and potential stressors/pollutants have been identified for each assessment unit. For each assessment unit the following stressors/pollutants were evaluated as possible contributors to impairment: low nutrients, altered flow regime, increased sediment, reduction in riparian habitat, increased metals concentrations, increased nutrients, and misuse of sampling protocol. Stressor identification reports shows sediment, temperature, and nutrients as the likely pollutants. During this addendum effort, DEQ developed nutrient TMDLs for four water bodies (ten assessment units).

2007 Addendum (Nutrients): Streams and Pollutants for Which TMDLs Were Developed

Stream	Pollutants
Sand Creek	Nutrients
Colburn Creek	Nutrients
Trout Creek	Nutrients
Pack River	Nutrients

2007 Clark Fork - Pend Oreille Addendum: Temperature

This addendum addresses 19 water bodies in the Pend Oreille Lake subbasin placed on Idaho’s §303(d) list for temperature impairment. Effective shade targets were established for these streams based on the concept of maximum shading under potential natural vegetation resulting in natural background temperature levels. Shade targets were derived from effective shade curves developed for similar vegetation types in the Northwest. Existing shade was determined from aerial photo interpretation field verified with a Solar Pathfinder.

Most streams examined in this TMDL had excess solar loads. Notably, the Pack River and several of its larger tributaries (Grouse Creek, Rapid Lightning Creek, McCormick Creek, and Hellroaring Creek) had high excess loads with reductions of 30% to 90% necessary to achieve target levels. Hoodoo Creek and upper Cocolalla Creek also had high excess loads; however, their necessary percent reductions were generally less than 30%. North Fork Grouse Creek and Granite Creek are recommended for delisting from the §303(d) list for temperature based on analysis performed while developing these TMDLs.

2007 Addendum (Temperature): Streams and Pollutants for Which TMDLs Were Developed

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Stream	Pollutants
Cedar Creek	Temperature
Chloride Gulch Creek	Temperature
Cocolalla Creek	Temperature
Fish Creek	Temperature
Granite Creek	Temperature
Grouse Creek	Temperature
Hellroaring Creek	Temperature
Hoodoo Creek	Temperature
Jeru Creek	Temperature
McCormick Creek	Temperature
North Fork Grouse Creek	Temperature
North Gold Creek	Temperature
Pack River	Temperature
Rapid Lightening Creek	Temperature
Trestle Creek	Temperature
Trout Creek	Temperature
West Gold Creek	Temperature
“South” Gold Creek	Temperature
“West” Sand Creek	Temperature

Showing 1 to 19 of 19 entries

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2007 Clark Fork - Pend Oreille Addendum: Sediment

The overall purpose of this addendum is to characterize and document sediment pollutant loads for a select group of tributaries in the Pend Oreille Lake subbasin. This report addresses five watersheds in the Pend Oreille Subbasin that include 11 assessment units identified in Idaho’s 2002 Integrated Report as water quality limited by an unknown pollutant or excess sediment. These 6th-order watersheds are Upper Pack Creek, Gold Creek, North Gold Creek, Rapid Lightning Creek, and Sand Creek. The five watersheds addressed in this report comprise 121,927 acres, or approximately 190 square miles of the Pend Oreille Lake subbasin, and include assessment units encompassing the Pack River, McCormick Creek, HellroaringCreek, Sand Creek, Schweitzer Creek, Gold Creek, Rapid Lightning Creek, and North Gold Creek. Sediment TMDLs were established for 14 assessment units to reduce nonpoint source sediment pollutant loads in the subbasin.

2007 Addendum (Sediment): Streams and Pollutants for Which TMDLs Were Developed

Stream	Pollutants
Upper Pack River	Sediment
Hellroaring Creek	Sediment
Sand Creek	Sediment
Jack Creek	Sediment
Swede Creek	Sediment
Schweitzer Creek	Sediment
Little Sand Creek	Sediment
Gold Creek	Sediment
North Gold Creek	Sediment

Subbasin Document(s)

Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Nutrients for the Nearshore Waters of Pend Oreille Lake, Idaho (April 2002)
Pend Oreille Lake Nearshore Nutrient TMDL Implementation Plan (December 2004)
Clark Fork/Pend Oreille Sub-Basin Assessment and Total Maximum Daily Loads (March 2001)
Pack River Watershed Management Plan and TMDL Implementation Plan (July 2006)
Cocolalla Lake, Cocolalla Creek, and Hoodoo Creek Implementation Plan (July 2004)
Pack River Nutrients Total Maximum Daily Load: Addendum to the Pend Oreille Lake Nearshore Waters Nutrient SBA and TMDL (November 2007)
Pend Oreille Lake Tributaries Temperature Total Maximum Daily Loads: Addendum to the Pend Oreille Lake Subbasin Assessment and TMDL (November 2007)
Pend Oreille Tributaries Sediment Total Maximum Daily Loads (December 2007)
Nutrient TMDL for the Nearshore Waters of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho: TMDL Five-Year Review (June 2015)
Pend Oreille Lake and River Tributaries: TMDL Five-Year Review (April 2017)

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Staff Contact

DEQ Coeur d’Alene Regional Office
2110 Ironwood Parkway
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
Ph: (208) 769-1422
Fax: (208) 769-1404
Toll Free: (877) 370-0017