Groups: Restore Idaho Water-Quality Monitoring
State regulators, environmentalists and cities are pushing for Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Legislature to restore $350,000 in funding to resume monitoring pollution in Idaho's lakes and rivers, saying eliminating the cash for a third straight year could add to regulatory hurdles for business and dent the economy.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - State regulators, environmentalists and cities are pushing for Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Legislature to restore $350,000 in funding to resume monitoring pollution in Idaho's lakes and rivers, saying eliminating the cash for a third straight year could add to regulatory hurdles for business and dent the economy.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality hasn't conducted water-quality monitoring since 2008, as the state wrestled with budget woes. Another expected shortfall could be as high as $340 million, so restoring the money - even if it only amounts to 30 cents per Idaho resident - won't be easy.
DEQ administrator Toni Hardesty, an Otter appointee, told the Republican chief executive in budget documents obtained by The Associated Press this week that failing to assess Idaho's waterways, some of which are so polluted they don't fully support fish or aquatic life, could result in lawsuits similar to a 1990 case against the agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for violating the federal Clean Water Act.
Hardesty agency also said it could hamper industry and agriculture in getting federal pollution permits for projects.
