Ahsahka, Idaho – The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites the public to a Dworshak Reservoir Nutrient Supplementation Project update at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 23, at the Best Western Lodge at River’s Edge at 615 Main Street in Orofino, Idaho.
After several years of operation, the pilot project was paused in July 2010 as the Corps sought a newly required environmental permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project team stopped adding nutrients to the reservoir at that time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently seeking public comments on its proposal to issue a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit until May 24. EPA information about the NPDES permit is available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/water.nsf/NPDES+Public+Notices/dworshak-id-pn-2011.
After dam construction in 1972, nutrients steadily declined, resulting in a nutrient-poor reservoir environment. In 2007, the Corps and IDFG partnered to apply prescribed amounts of liquid fertilizer to Dworshak reservoir to improve the aquatic environment.
The Corps initially applied for an NPDES permit from the EPA on April 16, 2007 to use liquid fertilizer as an ecosystem treatment. At that time, the EPA was uncertain the Corps needed a permit for this pilot project. The project activities moved forward in 2007 under an agreement with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. In May 2010, a resident of Clearwater County, Idaho filed notice he intended to sue the Corps and the State of Idaho for Clean Water Act violations associated with the Dworshak nutrient project. In July 2010, the EPA notified the Corps that the addition of fertilizer to the reservoir does require a discharge permit even though fertilizer is being used in a beneficial manner. As a result, the Corps and IDFG decided to voluntarily cease fertilizer treatments and await EPA issuance of an NPDES permit before applying additional fertilizer to the reservoir.
The Dworshak pilot project is modeled after 30 years of work conducted in Canada on several deep lakes similar to Dworshak. The Corps informally consulted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nez Perce Tribe and NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service before starting the pilot project. Prescribed amounts of nutrients periodically added to the reservoir have been based on close monitoring and detailed scientific analyses. Monitoring results have revealed several benefits from the program including increases in beneficial algae, increased abundance of higher quality food for aquatic life, and healthier and larger fish.
Idaho Fish and Game and the Corps have openly communicated about the project in a series of public meetings. The most recent one was held on June 29, 2010, in Orofino.
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Release no. 11-55