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