Friends of the Teton River – (H2)-KNOW your well water quality

(H2)-KNOW your well water quality – $2,750

As a Foundation with strategic values, the Grants Committee chose to fully fund Friends of the Teton River’s Competitive Grant for a well water testing cost-share program for Teton Valley residents. Mail-in test kits provided at a reduced cost enable individuals to accurately, affordably, and conveniently test their well water. Cost-share programs like this one are offered in neighboring communities, like Jackson, WY, as incentive to ensure drinking water sources are safe.

Friends of the Teton River works collaboratively with our community to protect and improve clean water, healthy streams, and a thriving wild fishery. With the majority of Teton County, ID residents relying on private wells as their primary source of drinking water, it’s imperative that maintain testing (recommended annually), operation, and maintenance to ensure that their well water is safe to drink.

Preventing contamination of our drinking water sources is the best way to reduce the risk of harm to human health, save taxpayers money on costly remediation, and protect the health of the Teton River and its fishery. Friends of the Teton River has heard a growing number of concerns from community members, elected officials, and agency partners about drinking water quality concerns in Teton Valley, including:

• In 2014, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality ranked the northern portion of Teton County, ID as the seventeenth (out of 34) most severely degraded groundwater areas in the state.
• Teton County, ID has been one of the state’s fastest growing counties since 2000. Increased residential development and the associated increase in density of septic systems, is one of the biggest threats to drinking water quality in Teton Valley. As seen in neighboring Teton County, WY, increased densities can lead to significant drinking water quality concerns and harmful levels of nitrates due to the rapid increase of residential development and private septic systems. There are an estimated 3,500 households in Teton County, Idaho using individual septic systems to treat household waste water.
• There are a growing number of complaints about illegal dumping of household waste and new residences not complying with the proper septic permitting requirements, which increases the risk of drinking water contamination. In addition, areas of the county have aging well and septic systems that have not been tested in the past 3-5+ years.

Since 2011, FTR has offered a free Nitrate Testing Day, which provides an initial screening for this contaminant, which may indicate further testing is needed. FTR has seen an increase in the number of residents requesting follow-up testing based on their results. Any follow-up testing has been facilitated by FTR, but the cost is the homeowner’s responsibility. Through the current lab service (FTR uses for our water quality testing program) a panel of lab tests cost $125, plus a courier service fee, or drop-off in Pocatello, and complicated forms that FTR has helped homeowners fill out.

This strategic (H2)-KNOW your well water quality program will make testing more accessible for Teton ValleyResidents, as well as help ensure safe, clean drinking water in our community, protect water quality in the Teton River, and educate community members about threats to drinking water quality in the Teton Valley.