U.S. Department of the Interior a U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey

Programs in Idaho

Upper Snake

River Basin

Northern Rocky

Mountains

Intermontane

Basins

Payette

Lake

Lower

Boise

River

Basin

Idaho

National

Engineering

Laboratory

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has 

been assessing, mapping, and reporting on 

Idaho’s earth resources for more than 100 

years. Ongoing USGS programs in Idaho 

include topographic and geologic mapping, 

surface- and ground-water data collection, 

geochemical and biological investigations of 

lakes and rivers, mineral exploration, and 

assessments of water-quality, hydrologic, and 

geologic conditions, including earthquakes 

and floods. The USGS contributes to the 

health, safety, and economic well being of 

Idaho’s citizens through each of these programs and in cooperative efforts with State, 

local, and Federal agencies, universities, and 

other public organizations.

Earthquake-Hazards Research

The USGS, in cooperation with the Idaho 

Geological Survey and the Montana Bureau 

of Mines, is studying the Lewis and Clark 

seismic activity zone in northern Idaho and 

western Montana. The safety of workers and 

equipment in mines that are thousands of feet 

deep depends upon knowledge about spatial, 

temporal, and intensity distributions of earthquakes along active faults in this zone.

National Water-Quality 

Assessment

The long-term goals of the National 

Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program are to describe the status and trends in 

the water quality of a large, representative 

part of the Nation's rivers and aquifers and to 

identify the primary natural and human factors that affect water-quality conditions. The 

NAWQA Program is designed to produce 

water-quality, geographic, and ecological 

information that will be useful to policymakers and water managers at the local, State, 

and national levels.

One NAWQA Program study—the upper 

Snake River Basin (fig. 1)—has been underway in Idaho since 1991. Analysis of historical water-quality data indicates that from 

1980 to 1989, nutrient concentrations in the 

Snake River generally increased in a downstream direction. Nutrient concentrations 

were significantly greater at measurement 

sites affected by agricultural activities and 

sites on the main stem of the Snake River 

than at those unaffected or minimally 

affected by agriculture. Nitrate concentrations in ground water sampled from 1980 to 

1991 were significantly greater in agricultural areas than in rangeland areas. Nitrate 

concentrations exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) drinking-water standard of 10 milligrams per liter 

at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), which is north of Pocatello, and 

in the Burley area. Sources of nutrients, 

including nitrate, are synthetic and natural 

fertilizers, atmospheric deposition that 

results from combustion of fossil fuels, and 

effluent from industrial and wastewater-treatment facilities.

Concentrations of DDT and PCB’s were 

found in most tissue samples from fish collected in the Basin between 1970 and 1990. 

Some concentrations exceeded criteria for the 

protection of predatory fish and wildlife. 

However, other long-term data for DDT and 

PCB’s indicated declining concentrations in 

fish tissue during the collection period. Mercury concentrations in bed-sediment and tissue samples were below levels of concern for 

the protection of bottom-dwelling organisms 

and fish-eating birds and wildlife.

In 1996, upper Snake River Basin 

NAWQA began monitoring trends in surfacewater and ground-water quality and aquatic 

conditions and to update the compilation of 

environmental setting information. 

Another NAWQA Program study—the 

Northern Rocky Mountains Intermontane 

Basins (fig. 1)—is scheduled to begin in 

1997.

Topographic Mapping

The widespread use of maps and digital 

cartographic data is expanding dramatically. 

The National Mapping Program of the USGS 

strives to ensure that map data in graphic and 

digital form are available to the public 

through timely and effective data-collection 

and revision procedures. 

Among the most popular and versatile 

products of the USGS are the 1:24,000-scale 

topographic maps (1 inch on the map represents 2,000 feet on the ground). Idaho is represented by 1,715 maps at this scale. These 

maps depict basic natural and cultural features of the landscape, such as lakes and 

streams, highways and railroads, boundaries, 

and geographic names and include contour 

lines that depict the elevation and shape of the 

terrain. The maps are useful for civil engineering, land-use planning, natural-resource 

Index of Subjects

Earthquake-Hazards Research 

National Water-Quality Assessment 

Topographic Mapping

Heavy Elements in the Coeur d’Alene 

River Valley

Water-Quality and Biological Assessment 

of the Lower Boise River

Radioactive and Chemical Wastes in the 

Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer System

Payette Lake

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem 

Earth-Science Information

Environmental Remediation at the 

Blackbird Mine

Sharing Geospatial Data

Hydrologic and Water-Quality Data

Geologic Mapping

Figure 1. Some areas studied by the 

USGS in Idaho.

Earth Science in the Public Service
0 10 MILES

0

Coeur d'Alene Lake

Flood plain of


Coeur d'Alene River

Thompson L. Swan L.

Harrison

Black L.

Cave L.

Killarney 

L.

Medimont

Dudley Cataldo

Bunker Hill

Superfund 

site

Rose L.

Pine

Creek

Big

Creek Wallace Mullan

Canyon

Creek Osborn

Kellogg

Smelterville

N. Fork Coeur d'Alene River

S. Fork Coeur d'Alene River

drainage basin

47°

30' 

Coeur d'Alene

mining district

Coeur d'Alene 

MONT

IDAHO WYO OREG

WASH

116°

10 KILOMETERS

AREA OF MAP

monitoring, and other technical applications 

and have long been favorites with the general 

public for a wide variety of outdoor uses.

Heavy Elements in the Coeur 

d’Alene River Valley

A large part of the Coeur d’Alene River 

Valley in northern Idaho (fig. 2) is blanketed 

by sediment with high concentrations of 

heavy elements (lead, zinc, and cadmium) 

that resulted from more than a century of 

mining, milling, and smelting to process lead, 

zinc, and silver. In 1986, the USEPA established the Bunker Hill Superfund site along a 

7-mile stretch of Valley around the smelter 

complex. In the Valley outside the Superfund 

site, a study by the Idaho Department of 

Health and Welfare is underway to assess 

lead and cadmium levels in people, and a 

Natural Resource Damage Assessment is 

being conducted by U.S. Departments of the 

Interior and Agriculture and the Coeur 

d’Alene Tribe to evaluate toxic effects of 

heavy elements on fish and wildlife. In coordination with these ongoing studies, USGS 

research in the Coeur d’Alene Valley provides 

information about the distribution, mobility, 

and bioavailability of heavy elements. This 

information can be used in the development 

of remediation strategies to reduce effects of 

dissolved and particulate heavy elements on 

surface water in the Valley by these agencies.

Sediments, with high concentrations of 

heavy elements blanket the 100-year flood 

plain throughout the Valley, are intermixed 

with cobbles in active and abandoned channels in the upper Valley, and form thick (10 to 

20 foot) submerged point-bar deposits in the 

lower Valley. Heavy-element content is highest in the sediment section deposited after 

mining first began and progressively 

decreases upward. Flood-plain sediments at 

land surface in the mining district in the 

upper Valley contain from 1 to 3 percent lead 

and about 1 percent zinc (more than 100 

times the percentages found outside the mining district); sediments in the 30-mile-long 

lower Valley contain 0.4 percent lead and 

slightly less zinc.

Successful remediation strategies will 

depend on understanding and disrupting the 

pathways through which potentially toxic 

heavy elements move from sediments to specific organisms. Presently, these pathways are 

only partially understood. To summarize, 

metallic sulfides in the original mine tailings 

are stable until they start to break down upon 

contact with air or water. As the sulfides 

break down, heavy elements are released into 

solution and can form a variety of heavy-element-bearing secondary minerals during 

summer drying or when chemical conditions 

change. Sulfides that break down in the flood 

plain produce high concentrations of dissolved zinc and cadmium. These potentially 

toxic elements enter surface water by groundwater transport and are present at levels that 

are lethal to fish throughout most of the mining district. Lead released from the breakdown of lead sulfide quickly forms leadbearing secondary minerals that readily enter 

the food chain. As these pathways and their 

interrelations are better understood through 

continuing research, strategies can be developed to disrupt them before toxic elements 

adversely affect the health of people, fish, and 

wildlife.

Water-Quality and Biological 

Assessment of the Lower Boise 

River

Land development, road construction, 

urban runoff, animal-feeding operations, and 

agricultural land and water uses contribute to 

increased nutrient and sediment loads, high 

bacteria levels, and elevated water temperatures that exceed water-quality criteria established for the lower Boise River (fig. 1). 

Consequently, in October 1994, the State of 

Idaho was required by the USEPA to develop 

an implementation plan to restore water-quality conditions to the established criteria by 

1997. To assist the State with this requirement, an 8-year study was designed to define 

water-quality and biological integrity in the 

river for current conditions and for identification of long-term trends. The study began in 

1994 and is conducted by the USGS, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Health 

and Welfare, Division of Environmental 

Quality, and a consortium of local governments, water districts, and water-user organizations.

Nutrients, suspended sediment, bacteria, 

dissolved oxygen, pH, and water temperature 

measured before and after the irrigation season at 4 river and 12 irrigation drain sites 

since 1994 provide baseline water-quality 

conditions that are useful for assessing 

changes in conditions from year to year as the 

implementation plan is executed. Also, 

bimonthly measurements at four river and 

eight drain sites are useful for assessing seasonal changes. Measurements of algae, invertebrates, and fish at five river sites in the 

spring and fall are useful for assessing 

changes in biological integrity. Other data 

collected during this study, including pointsource locations, land use, land-management 

practices, and agricultural chemical use are 

being compiled in a geographic information 

system and used to examine relations among 

potential contamination sources, water-quality conditions, and biological integrity.

Radioactive and Chemical Wastes 

in the Eastern Snake River Plain 

Aquifer System

The INEL, which is operated by the U.S. 

Department of Energy, is located on the eastern Snake River Plain in southeastern Idaho 

(fig. 1). Facilities at the INEL are used in the 

development of peacetime atomic-energy 

applications, nuclear safety research, defense 

programs, and advanced energy concepts. 

Wastewater that contains radiochemical and 

chemical wastes generated at these facilities 

has been discharged to infiltration ponds and 

disposal wells since 1952. Wastewater disposal has resulted in detectable concentrations of waste constituents in water from the 

Snake River Plain aquifer system that underlies the INEL. Water from the aquifer system 

hydraulically downgradient from the INEL is 

used extensively for drinking, irrigation, and 

aquaculture. 

The USGS has monitored hydrologic conditions in the Snake River Plain aquifer at the 

INEL since the early 1950's. A multiphase 

project began in 1987 to characterize the fate 

and transport of radioactive and chemical 

constituents in the aquifer. In the first phase 

Figure 2. The Coeur d’Alene area showing the Coeur d’Alene mining district, 

the Coeur d’Alene River, the Bunker Hill Superfund site, and other significant features.
of this project, stratigraphic, geochemical, 

and hydraulic studies are being incorporated 

to define the ground-water flow system at the 

INEL. Complementary studies include the 

use of environmental tracers to provide information about the rate of ground-water flow 

and geochemical-reaction experiments to 

evaluate the chemical processes that affect 

the transport of waste constituents in the subsurface. In the second phase, numerical flow 

models are developed to simulate the occurrence and movement of water in the aquifer 

system. These models integrate data obtained 

from the first-phase studies and are used to 

evaluate the conceptual model of the flow 

system. In the third phase, a solute-transport 

model is developed to test hypotheses about 

the movement of radiochemical constituents 

in the aquifer. In addition to the large-scale 

characterization study, the USGS began a 

flood-plain study in 1994 to delineate the possible extent, volume, and velocity of floods in 

relation to INEL processing and storage facilities. Other USGS activities at the INEL 

include regional and local surface geologic 

mapping and subsurface stratigraphic, isotopic, and paleomagnetic studies to help 

develop hazard assessments for potential 

threats from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions for the INEL and for specific reactor 

and radioactive-waste storage facilities.

Payette Lake

Payette Lake is a 8.3-square-mile natural 

lake situated in a mountain valley in westcentral Idaho (fig. 1). The city of McCall 

(1990 population, 2,000) is located at the 

Lake’s outlet. McCall is a popular recreation 

area, and the population increases seasonally 

in summer and winter. The area’s substantial 

growth in resident population over the past 

decade, coupled with increased developmental pressure and heavy recreational use of the 

Lake, prompted local residents to request a 

comprehensive water-quality study of the 

Lake. The objective of this study, which is 

being conducted in cooperation with the 

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, 

Division of Environmental Quality, is to 

develop a nutrient load/lake response model 

of Payette Lake. The study will evaluate the 

physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the lake; quantify discharge and 

nutrient loadings associated with major 

inflow from the North Fork Payette River and 

minor tributaries and outflow from the lake; 

and calibrate, verify, and use the model to 

simulate the Lake’s response to hypothetical 

alterations in nutrient loading. The study 

began in July 1994 and includes 2 years for 

data collection and an additional year to complete data interpretation and modeling.

Analyses of water samples from the 

Lake’s primary inlet on the North Fork Payette River indicated elevated nitrate concentrations in winter 1995, possibly related to the 

heavy application of fire retardants and ash 

produced by major forest fires during fall 

1994. Samples from the outlet did not reflect 

a large nitrate increase, which implies that 

nutrients were stored in the Lake. Chlorophyll analyses collected at four stations on 

the Lake indicated abundant phytoplankton 

growth in response to the plentiful nitrogen 

content of the Lake. This surge in phytoplankton growth exhausted the supply of 

dissolved oxygen in the lower water column 

of the Lake from September to November 

1995 for the first time on record. Continuation of these symptoms could presage undesirable changes in the balance among plant, 

fish, and wildlife communities whereby plant 

growth could become increasingly predominant. Several years of sampling will be 

needed to evaluate whether increased phytoplankton growth and oxygen depletion are a 

transient response to the fires or a chronic 

problem related to basin and nearshore development.

Interior Columbia Basin 

Ecosystem

The USGS provides earth science information to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and 

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

project staff, which is completing a scientific 

assessment of all land in a seven-State region 

of the Columbia River Basin east of the Cascade Mountains. Goals of the scientific 

assessment are to understand the development and current state of land, water, plants, 

animals, and society within the basin and to 

model future conditions that could result 

from different management alternatives and 

disturbances. In coordination with the scientific assessment, the USFS and BLM staff 

also is developing regional management strategies for Federal lands in the Basin. Goals of 

the management strategies are to maintain 

and improve ecological integrity by promoting the natural processes that operate in 

healthy aquatic, terrestrial, and landscape 

ecosystems and to provide sustainable flows 

of resources from Federal lands.

Mineral-resource potential of the Interior 

Columbia Basin is a partial indicator of the 

potential for economic development, land 

use, and environmental hazards. USGS scientists have provided detailed digital geologic, 

hydrologic, and mineral-resource information 

to USFS and BLM staff biologists, botanists, 

forest ecologists, sociologists, and economists; participated in systems modeling; provided data to be used by the agencies in the 

development of management alternatives; and 

contributed to several reports. 

Earth-Science Information

Earth science information is critical in 

understanding past, present, and future conditions, processes, and potentials in any ecosystem. Geologic and hydrologic interactions 

provide critical controls on erosion potential 

and on the occurrence and distribution of 

aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal populations in various climatic settings. Geologic 

and hydrologic processes, including volcanic 

eruptions, earthquakes, and erosion and deposition from floods, have shaped the landscape 

but also are hazards to people, plants, and 

animals; disrupt transportation and communication networks; damage structures; and 

affect economic conditions.

The Earth Science Information Centers 

(ESIC's) provide the public with information 

about USGS programs, products, and technological developments. The ESIC in Boise was 

established under a cooperative agreement 

between the USGS and the Idaho State 

Library. The University of Idaho Library in 

Moscow also is a State ESIC. As part of the 

national ESIC network, local centers provide 

information on such earth science topics as 

cartography, geography, digital data, remote 

sensing, geology, geophysics, geochemistry, 

hydrology, geohydrology, aerial photography, 

and land use. The USGS provides reference 

materials, technical assistance, training 

opportunities, outreach activities, and access 

to USGS data bases in support of the ESIC 

network.

Environmental Remediation at 

the Blackbird Mine

Metal-rich acid mine drainage at the inactive Blackbird cobalt-copper mine, which is a 

proposed Superfund site, has led Idaho to 

bring suit in Federal court against the mining 

companies that currently hold the property. 

The mine drainage has potential adverse 

effects on wetlands, riparian habitat, and 

migrating salmon and other anadromous fish 

in a major tributary to the federally designated “wild and scenic” Salmon River. The 

USGS has been studying the cobalt resources 

at Blackbird and in the surrounding region 

and is now providing critical geologic and 

geochemical information and expertise 

directly applicable to cleanup of this site and 

resolution of the ongoing litigation. This 

information is being used by State and Federal trustees of public lands that surround the 

mine to evaluate site standards and remediation; by the U.S. Department of Justice to 

pursue legal issues; by the USEPA to oversee 
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Basins

Kootenai River

Pend Oreille River

Spokane River

Clearwater River

Salmon River

Snake River

Bear River

Streamflow-discharge

measurement site

Streamflow-discharge

and water-quality

measurement site

EXPLANATION

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remediation at the proposed Superfund site; 

and by consulting firms that have been hired 

by the involved mining companies and some 

government agencies to conduct technical 

studies relevant to litigation and remediation.

Knowledge of the Blackbird deposit, 

which is the only primary source of cobalt in 

the United States, is essential for long-range 

national planning for strategic mineral needs. 

The USGS studies of the Yellowjacket Formation and related rocks and mineral deposits 

are being used extensively for exploration by 

domestic mining companies.

Sharing Geospatial Data

The Competitive Cooperative Agreements 

Program (CCAP) was established by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

through the USGS to help form data-sharing 

partnerships with the non-Federal sector. This 

program provides funding to State and local 

government agencies, academia, and the private sector to encourage resource-sharing 

projects through the use of technology, networking, and interagency coordination. The 

Idaho Department of Water Resources and 

the Idaho Geographic Information Advisory 

Committee were funded by CCAP to establish a metadata (the characteristics and availability of geospatial data) clearinghouse on 

the Internet as part of the Idaho Geospatial 

Data Network of the National Spatial Data 

Infrastructure. This project will build upon 

activities of the geospatial data community in 

Idaho to provide an online source of metadata 

from contributors within Idaho. The project 

involves developing an implementation strategy for a metadata clearinghouse, defining an 

Idaho metadata profile compatible with 

FGDC metadata standards, educating and 

training clearinghouse contributors and users, 

implementing access for contributors to the 

clearinghouse at key data-developer sites, and 

populating the clearinghouse with metadata.

Hydrologic and Water-Quality 

Data

Idaho has seven major river basins—the 

Kootenai, the Pend Oreille, the Spokane, the 

Clearwater, the Salmon, the Snake, and the 

Bear. Rivers in these basins supply surface 

water for agriculture, industry, hydroelectricpower generation, recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, and other uses within Idaho and 

in adjacent States. Aquifers supply ground 

water for these same uses in many parts of the 

State. Water from geothermal aquifers also is 

used for space heating. Hydrologic and 

water-quality data are critical for the day-today administration and management of water 

resources; for determining the extent and 

severity of droughts; for characterizing and 

predicting conditions during floods; and for 

monitoring the effects of people activities on 

streamflow, ground-water supply, and water 

quality. The data also are essential to plan 

development activities and to carry out interpretive studies that provide information for 

making decisions about water issues that 

affect millions of people.

 The USGS, in cooperation with the Idaho 

Department of Water Resources, the Bureau 

of Reclamation, and more than 20 other local, 

State, and Federal agencies, collects surfaceand ground-water and water-quality data at 

numerous sites throughout the State. For 

example, streamflow discharge was measured 

at 279 gaging stations; water-quality data 

were collected at 124 of those stations in 

1996 (fig. 3).

Geologic Mapping

With funds provided by the USGS under 

the STATEMAP component of the National 

Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, the 

Idaho Geological Survey produced geologic 

maps of the Pocatello South, the Twin Falls, 

the Filer, and the Clover 1:24,000-scale quadrangles. This work has been of great interest 

to municipal authorities in Pocatello and 

Twin Falls and can be combined with other 

geospatial data to develop plans related to 

urban expansion, landfills, sewage systems, 

air and water quality, and seismic risk.

USGS State representative

230 Collins Road

Boise, ID 83702

(208) 387-1300

Fax: (208) 387-1372

Email: dc_id@usgs.gov

Additional earth science

information can be found by

accessing the USGS Home Page

on the World Wide Web at

http://www.usgs.gov/

For more information on

all USGS reports and products

(including maps, images,

and computerized data), call

1-800-USA-MAPS

The USGS provides maps,

reports, and information to help

 others meet their needs to manage,

develop, and protect America’s water,

energy, mineral, biological, and land

resources. We help find the natural

resources needed to build tomorrow

and supply the scientific understanding needed to help minimize or mitigate the effects of natural hazards

and environmental damage caused

by natural and human activities. The

results of our efforts touch the daily

life of almost every American.

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet FS-012-96

Figure 3. River Basins and sites in Idaho 

where streamflow and water quality were 

measured in 1996.

For More

Information