Surface water runoff is called “non-point source pollution” because it comes from a wide variety of sources rather than from a single discharge pipe. Since it can be difficult to identify the many sources, communities can work to improve watershed processes that influence surface water runoff quality and thus improve quality of water entering rivers, lakes, and streams.
The Malheur Watershed Council, the Malheur County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), and their partners have been intensively monitoring the water quality of the rivers and streams in the Malheur basin since 1998. The intention of this monitoring has been to discover general trends rather than to draw conclusions about the causes of water quality problems. Baseline water quality data is important to understand seasonal and spatial trends in water quality so that more specific monitoring and restoration actions can be identified and implemented.
Since 2003, the Malheur SWCD has been monitoring 20 of the largest drains that empty into the Snake and Malheur Rivers. The drains capture irrigation tail water and storm water runoff from urban and rural lands. The monitoring goals are to determine the differences among the drains in their contribution of sediment, nutrients, and bacteria. If differences can be determined, the monitoring results will help guide the district’s priorities in landowner assistance, and help refine the Hells Canyon-Snake River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) adopted by the EPA in 2004.
Besides monitoring the drains, rivers, and streams in Malheur County, local groups and landowners are implementing restoration projects that help reduce the sources of water quality problems to these rivers and streams.