County water report

Bear Lake County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Bear Lake County, Idaho.

Water grade

Water score

48.5

State rank

#11

of 44

Health violations

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

51.8%

114 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

10,988 recent measurements

Live streamflow

87%

BEAR RIVER AT PESCADERO ID

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Bear Lake County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

Score: 48.5 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

52% impaired

114 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

87% of mean

BEAR RIVER AT PESCADERO ID

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

10,988 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

48.5/100

Health violations

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

18.4

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Data center water stress

Bear Lake County has 1 facility in the DCWSI dataset.

ByCounty's DCWSI ranks this county #1604 nationally by combining its water score with mapped data center density.

DCWSI

29.1

0-100 index

Facility count

0.0 density percentile

Discharge estimate

Not reported

EPA CWA fields where available

Water vs median

-1.5

Compared with US county median

Named operators

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Mapped facilities

Family History Center
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
OSM

See the Bear Lake County data-center report Review methodology

Data Center Water Budget Calculator

Estimate daily water use for a hypothetical facility in Bear Lake County.

Facility size: 100 MW

1 MW1,000 MW

Cooling type

Utilization: 70%

40%100%

799K gallons/dayData Unavailable

County-level industrial water use data is unavailable for this county. Contact the county water authority directly for industrial withdrawal capacity.

Based on USGS 2020 water-use data and EPA-standard cooling intensity constants. Not a substitute for site-specific water rights analysis.

Editorial analysis

Understanding Bear Lake County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Bear Lake County's drinking water received a D grade, scoring 48.5 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 1 health-based violation — a single incident worth monitoring.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A substantial 51.8% of assessed waterways are impaired (59 of 114 water bodies) across Bear Lake County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are phosphorus, total and total suspended solids (tss). Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T12:45:00.000-06:00) puts BEAR RIVER at 494.0 cfs — running somewhat below its historical average at 87% of mean. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Bear Lake County has moderate coverage with 39 active monitoring sites with 10,988 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and nutrient. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Bear Lake County

Water Verdict

Bear Lake County, Idaho receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of D and a score of 48.5 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 114 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 51.8% listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act — a source-water measure that is tracked independently of tap-water compliance. At the most recent USGS reading, local streamflow was below its historical mean at 87.1% — worth watching in drier seasons.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Bear Lake County, Idaho show 1 health-based violation, meaning a water system experienced at least one exceedance of federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements. At 18.4 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 10,988 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Bear Lake County's drinking-water compliance is below average with a Grade D, indicating repeated or unresolved violations in the recent record. Bear Lake County's drinking-water compliance score is 48.5 out of 100. The violation rate for Bear Lake County is 18.4 per 100,000 people served. Residents are encouraged to use an NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter for drinking and cooking water until the underlying violations are resolved. Running tap water for 30 seconds before use and avoiding older lead-pipe connections can also reduce exposure risk. The current Consumer Confidence Report from your utility will specify the contaminants of concern. Phosphorus, Total is the leading impairment cause in Bear Lake County's watershed. With 39 active water-quality monitoring sites in Bear Lake County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the BEAR RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Bear Lake County has better water quality than the average county in Idaho. Its water score is 15.9 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Bear Lake County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

1
Phosphorus (excess nutrients)
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
2
Total Suspended Solids (Tss)
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment
3
Sedimentation and siltation
Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Bear Lake County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Bear Lake County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Bear Lake County

Consumer Confidence Reports (ID)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Idaho

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

51.8%

59 of 114 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

1
PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL
2
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS)
3
SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

11K

10,988 total readings

Most Measured

Physical
Nutrient
Biological, Counts

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

494cfs

May 14, 6:45 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

87%

Below typical

Primary Streamgage

BEAR RIVER AT PESCADERO ID

USGS site: 10068500
Drainage area: 3,705 sq mi
Long-term mean: 567 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

Household size

3 people · ~225 gal/day

Filter type

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Bear Lake County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

Try the full calculator →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Bear Lake County, Idaho?

Bear Lake County, Idaho has a drinking-water quality grade of D with a score of 48.5/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 1 health-based drinking water violation over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.

Are there any water violations in Bear Lake County?

Bear Lake County has 1 health-based drinking water violation recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.

How healthy are the watersheds in Bear Lake County?

EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 51.8% of Bear Lake County's 114 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (59 impaired). The top reported causes are PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL, TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS), SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.

How much water-quality monitoring happens in Bear Lake County?

EPA's Water Quality Portal records 10,988 measurements from 39 monitoring sites in Bear Lake County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Biological, Counts. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.

What's happening with rivers in Bear Lake County right now?

Bear Lake County's primary USGS streamgage on the BEAR RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 494 cubic feet per second — 87% of the long-term mean of 567.06 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.

How does Bear Lake County water compare to the Idaho average?

Bear Lake County's SDWIS water quality score of 48.5/100 is higher than the Idaho state average of 32.6. The average water quality grade across Idaho is F, based on data from 44 counties with available SDWIS data.

Is tap water safe to drink in Bear Lake County?

Based on EPA SDWIS data, Bear Lake County has a water quality grade of D (48.5/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).

Does Bear Lake County have clean drinking water?

Bear Lake County has 1 health-based drinking water violation according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 48.5/100 and grade D, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.

How does Bear Lake County rank for water quality in Idaho?

Bear Lake County ranks #11 out of 44 counties in Idaho by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 48.5/100, it falls in the top third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Minidoka County

Idaho

48.4

Water score

Jerome County

Idaho

47.6

Water score

Gem County

Idaho

51.2

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated May 14, 2026Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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