Officials with the Boise-based nonprofit organization Idaho Rivers United released a new report card Thursday showing that the Boise River is thriving in many areas and healthier than in the past.
The new Boise River Report Card was based on 103 water quality tests performed last year by volunteers participating in the Boise River Stewardship program at three locations along the Boise River.
The report card, which called the river a crown jewel of the Treasure Valley, gave the Boise River high marks for water clarity, pH level and average temperature.
The report noted the Boise River is continuously cleaned up by volunteers, supports a variety of aquatic life and offers tremendous recreational opportunities for the public.
“The Boise River is doing pretty well,” Idaho Rivers United Communications Director Dave Womack said in an interview Thursday. “We are doing well under the Clean Water Act standards, which is safe for swimming, safe for human contact and safe for fishing.”
“Overall, our pH is doing really well,” Womack added. “Our clarity is quite good. The temperature on average is pretty good, but it’s not great for salmonid spawning – fish spawning conditions for cold water species.”
Idaho Rivers United report finds several areas that may need more testing, monitoring
In the report, Idaho Rivers United officials said the Boise River is healthier in every respect compared to previous decades, when the river was polluted and used as a dumping site, before the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972.
However, officials did find a few areas of concern and some factors that they said merit additional testing and monitoring. Officials said the amount of oxygen in the water for aquatic species may be less than ideal. Officials also said coliform is present, but they could not identify the type or concentration of bacteria. Finally, the report card noted that conditions for salmonid spawning and coldwater aquatic life are suboptimal due to temperatures, low flows and habitat alteration.
The Boise River Report Card is a new report produced by Idaho Rivers United, and officials plan to continue water testing and issue updated reports each year.
“This is the first year that we’ve done water quality tests, and this is intended to be our baseline so that we can do a sort of vertical comparison as we go forward on an annual basis,” Womack said. “We’re going to make sure that this is an ongoing resource in order to provide information to decision makers, to the public and to anyone who will be impacted by the water quality.”
Boise River Stewards remove trash from Boise River
In conjunction with the release of the Boise River Report Card, Idaho Rivers United officials also highlighted their Boise River Stewardship volunteer program.
Through the Boise River Stewardship program, volunteers donated 486 hours of volunteer time, conducted 15 Boise River cleanups and removed 971 pounds of trash from the river and conducted 103 water quality samples along the river. Overall, Idaho Rivers United reported removing 3,850 pounds of trash from the river last year.
Boise resident Madeleine Shapiro has been volunteering as a Boise River Steward for four years, since she heard about Idaho Rivers United’s volunteer programs while attending a local beer festival.
Shapiro said it is a perfect volunteer opportunity for her because she is able to volunteer on weekend mornings and help clean up the same sections of the Boise River that she enjoys fly fishing in.
“I come from Texas, where all of the rivers are kind of murky and green and warm,” Shapiro said. “When I moved here I had never seen a live trout before, and I really wanted to learn how to fly fish, and so I was out there (on the Boise River) every single day trying to figure it out. And I just watched the area that I was in just kind of get overrun with garbage as it got warmer and warmer and as more people began to recreate.”
Shapiro said she received training from Idaho Rivers United, learned the leave no trace principles of pack-it-in, pack-it-out and now helps lead river cleanups with Idaho Rivers United.
“I just fell in love with the mission,” Shapiro said.
Information about how to volunteer for a river cleanup is available on the Idaho Rivers United website.
