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Federal water data

County water report

Power County Water Report

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

Water grade

F

Water score

12.2

State rank

#35

of 44

Health violations

14

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

52.2%

268 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

36

4,046 recent measurements

Live streamflow

198%

SNAKE RIVER AT NEELEY ID

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Power County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 12.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

14

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

52% impaired

268 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

198% of mean

SNAKE RIVER AT NEELEY ID

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

36

4,046 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

12.2/100

Health violations

14

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

264.8

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Power County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Power County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 12.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 14 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

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 52.2% of assessed waterways are impaired (140 of 268 water bodies) across Power County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are sedimentation/siltation and escherichia coli (e. coli). 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 2026-05-14T12:30:00.000-06:00) puts SNAKE RIVER at 14.0k cfs — running significantly above its long-term average at 198% of mean flow. 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. Power County has moderate coverage with 36 active monitoring sites with 4,046 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 Power County

Water Verdict

Power County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 12.2 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans.

Violation Context

Power County has recorded 14 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 264.8 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Power County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Power County's drinking-water compliance score is 12.2 out of 100. An NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter is recommended for drinking and cooking water. Check the Consumer Confidence Report from your utility to identify the specific contaminants and required corrective actions — utilities are legally required to notify customers of violations. Sedimentation/Siltation is the leading impairment cause in Power County's watershed. With 36 active water-quality monitoring sites in Power County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the SNAKE RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Power County has poorer water quality than the average county in Idaho. Its water score is 20.4 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than 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 Power County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Sedimentation and siltation

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    E. coli (bacteria)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Phosphorus (excess nutrients)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Power County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Power County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Power County

Consumer Confidence Reports (ID)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Idaho

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

52.2%

140 of 268 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION

  • 2

    ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI)

  • 3

    PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL

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

36

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

4.0K

4,046 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Nutrient
  • Biological, Fish

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

14.0Kcfs

May 14, 6:30 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

198%

Well above typical

Primary Streamgage

SNAKE RIVER AT NEELEY ID

USGS site
13077000
Drainage area
13,600 sq mi
Long-term mean
7,074 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

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Power County:F — Failing

High violation count or severe watershed conditions.

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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Power County, Idaho?
Power County, Idaho has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 12.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 14 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Power County?
Power County has 14 health-based drinking water violations 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 Power County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 52.2% of Power County's 268 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (140 impaired). The top reported causes are SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION, ESCHERICHIA COLI (E. COLI), PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL. 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 Power County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 4,046 measurements from 36 monitoring sites in Power County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Nutrient, Biological, Fish. 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 Power County right now?
Power County's primary USGS streamgage on the SNAKE RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 14,000 cubic feet per second — 198% of the long-term mean of 7,074.26 cfs. This is well above typical — often a signal of recent precipitation or storm runoff. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Power County water compare to the Idaho average?
Power County's SDWIS water quality score of 12.2/100 is lower 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 Power County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Power County has a water quality grade of F (12.2/100). 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).
Why does Power County have so many water violations?
Power County has 14 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Power County rank for water quality in Idaho?
Power County ranks #35 out of 44 counties in Idaho by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 12.2/100, it falls in the bottom 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

Camas County

Idaho

F

13.4

Water score

Elmore County

Idaho

F

14.8

Water score

Lemhi County

Idaho

F

9.2

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 Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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