Water quality
Better water, better quality of life
The rivers where you swim, boat, fish — they revitalize us all in more ways than one. Take hydropower. Water from those rivers helps us meet life's growing demand for energy, and has for more than 110 years. Through our operations, we also cultivate several water quality mitigation measures that monitor total dissolved gas, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. Clean water, green living. For all.
How does Avista manage resources?
As part of several ongoing water quality mitigation measures, we monitor water quality parameters through the evaluation of total dissolved gas, temperature, and dissolved oxygen.
- Since 2010, Avista has been monitoring total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation in the forebays and tailraces at its Post Falls and Long Lake dams.
- To address total dissolved gas (TDG), we're looking into operational changes at the Post Falls Dam to reduce TDG levels.
- Avista is a participant in a water quality improvement plan, the Washington Department of Ecology’s Dissolved Oxygen Total Maximum Daily Load (DO TMDL) for the Spokane River and Lake Spokane (the reservoir created by Long Lake Dam).
- We developed a Lake Spokane Dissolved Oxygen Water Quality Attainment Plan (DO WQAP).
- Based on our testing, we use draft tube aeration and monitor the dissolved oxygen improvements each summer during low flows through 2016.
- We fund the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe so they can complete water quality monitoring in Coeur d’Alene Lake.
Water quality work plans and reports
As part of the Spokane River Project License, Avista is implementing water quality mitigation measures in consultation with various regulators, agency partners, and stakeholders. View documents.