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County water report

Shoshone County Water Report

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

Water grade

A

Water score

86.0

State rank

#4

of 44

Health violations

0

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

53.9%

330 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

95

25,049 recent measurements

Live streamflow

99%

COEUR D ALENE RIVER NR CATALDO ID

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Shoshone County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

A

Score: 86.0 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

0

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

54% impaired

330 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

99% of mean

COEUR D ALENE RIVER NR CATALDO ID

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

95

25,049 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

A

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

86.0/100

Health violations

0

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

0.0

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Shoshone County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Shoshone County earns an A grade for drinking water quality, scoring 86.0 out of 100. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) records zero health-based violations over the past five years — a strong compliance signal for a heavily urbanized county.

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 53.9% of assessed waterways are impaired (178 of 330 water bodies) across Shoshone County's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are temperature and sedimentation/siltation. 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 2026-05-14T11:15:00.000-07:00) puts COEUR D ALENE RIVER at 2.4k cfs — near its historical average at 99% 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. Shoshone County has extensive coverage with 95 active monitoring sites with 25,049 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include physical and inorganics, minor, metals. 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 Shoshone County

Water Verdict

Shoshone County, Idaho receives an excellent water quality assessment with a grade of A and a score of 86.0 out of 100. The water supply meets or exceeds federal safety standards, and residents can generally drink tap water with confidence. Separately, EPA ATTAINS assessments cover 330 water bodies in the county's watershed, with 53.9% 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 tracking near its historical mean (98.5%).

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Shoshone County, Idaho show zero health-based violations, indicating that the county's water systems met all federal safety standards during the reporting period. The violation rate is zero per 100,000 people served, which is the best possible outcome. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 25,049 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

The EPA compliance record for Shoshone County shows no recent health-based violations. No health-based violations have been recorded, placing Shoshone County in the top tier for drinking-water safety. Shoshone County's drinking-water compliance score is 86.0 out of 100. As a routine precaution, requesting your utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report each July gives you a full list of detected contaminants and their treatment levels. With 95 active water-quality monitoring sites in Shoshone County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the COEUR D ALENE RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Shoshone County has better water quality than the average county in Idaho. Its water score is 53.4 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 Shoshone County's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Elevated temperature

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

  • 2

    Sedimentation and siltation

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

  • 3

    Lead

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

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Shoshone County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Shoshone County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Shoshone County

Consumer Confidence Reports (ID)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Idaho

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

53.9%

178 of 330 assessed

Moderate concern

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    TEMPERATURE

  • 2

    SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION

  • 3

    LEAD

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

95

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

25K

25,049 total readings

Most Measured

  • Physical
  • Inorganics, Minor, Metals
  • 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

2,420cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

99%

Near typical

Primary Streamgage

COEUR D ALENE RIVER NR CATALDO ID

USGS site
12413500
Drainage area
1,208 sq mi
Long-term mean
2,456 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.

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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 Shoshone County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

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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Shoshone County has good water quality

Learn about water restrictions and conservation in your area.

Water Restrictions →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Shoshone County, Idaho?
Shoshone County, Idaho has a drinking-water quality grade of A with a score of 86.0/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 0 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 Shoshone County?
Shoshone County has 0 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). Zero violations is an excellent record indicating consistent compliance with federal drinking water standards.
How healthy are the watersheds in Shoshone County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 53.9% of Shoshone County's 330 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (178 impaired). The top reported causes are TEMPERATURE, SEDIMENTATION/SILTATION, LEAD. 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 Shoshone County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 25,049 measurements from 95 monitoring sites in Shoshone County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Physical, Inorganics, Minor, Metals, 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 Shoshone County right now?
Shoshone County's primary USGS streamgage on the COEUR D ALENE RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 2,420 cubic feet per second — 99% of the long-term mean of 2,456.32 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Shoshone County water compare to the Idaho average?
Shoshone County's SDWIS water quality score of 86.0/100 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 Shoshone County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Shoshone County has a water quality grade of A (86.0/100). This indicates good to excellent water quality with strong SDWIS compliance. 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 Shoshone County have clean drinking water?
Shoshone County has 0 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 86.0/100 and grade A, the county's drinking water meets EPA standards with no recorded health violations. 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 Shoshone County rank for water quality in Idaho?
Shoshone County ranks #4 out of 44 counties in Idaho by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 86.0/100, 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

Adams County

Idaho

A

86.0

Water score

Custer County

Idaho

A

86.0

Water score

Oneida County

Idaho

A

86.0

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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