Water Quality

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Water Quality
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Water Quality

• Means different things depending on use.
• Idaho, and other states, have established safety
  standards for the following uses
• Domestic (home) usage
• Cold water fisheries
• Warm water fisheries
• Trout spawning
• Swimming
• Wading/ boating
• Irrigation
• Livestock watering

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Factors Effecting Water Quality

• Suspended Solids sediments, can be filtered out
• Dissolved Oxygen all creatures must respire
  normal range 8-15ppm

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Factors Effecting Water Quality

• Pollutants measured in ppm or ppb
• Temperature trout like 55 bass 70

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Factors Effecting Water Quality

• Bacteria fecal coliform most commonly tested.
  drinking 1/ml swimming 50/ml
• pH measures acidity, below 6.5 decreases
  productivity

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Factors Effecting Water Quality

• Nutrients stimulate plant/algae growth.
  Nitrogen/phosphorus most common, frequently from
  agricultural runoff, sewage
• Above .1ppm unacceptable

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Factors Effecting Water Quality

• Turbidity Murkiness of water. Secchi disk used
  to measure
• Toxicity measure of lethal compounds that
  dissolve in water. Heavy metals, pesticides,
  insecticides

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Factors Effecting Water Quality

• Macroinvertebrates what lives in the one water
  is one of the best indicators of water quality!
• Insects, crustaceans, snails, etc.
• Caddisflies, mayflies indicate good water
• Mosquito larvae, leeches not so good.

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Factors Effecting Water QualityReview

• Suspended Solids
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Pollutants, ppm
• Temperature
• pH
• Bacteria
• Nutrients
• Turbidity
• Biological Indicators
• Toxic solubles

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Water Quality and Forestry

• BMP requirements
• Class 1 streams used for domestic water or
  important fish habitat.
• Class 2 streams minor drainages not used for
  above.

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Water Quality and Forestry

• Class I Protected 75 on either side of high
  water mark
• Class II Protected 30 on either side of high
  water mark if close to confluence with class I,
  otherwise, 5
• Poorly constructed roads and skid trails cause up
  to 90 of logging-related erosion

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Water Quality and Forestry

• When streams crossed, bridges must be installed
  you can not skid thru any stream, including
  intermittent and ephemeral.

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Water Quality and Forestry

• Providing large organic debris (LOD)
• improves fish habitat, traps sediments and
  reduces stream velocity