39-3603 GENERAL WATER QUALITY STANDARD AND ANTIDEGRADATION POLICY. - Idaho Statutes

TITLE 39

HEALTH AND SAFETY

CHAPTER 36

WATER QUALITY

39-3603. General water quality standard and antidegradation policy. The existing instream beneficial uses of each water body and the level of water quality necessary to protect those uses shall be maintained and protected. Where the quality of waters exceeds levels necessary to support propagation of fish, shellfish and wildlife and recreation in and on the water, that quality shall be maintained unless the department finds, after full satisfaction of the intergovernmental coordination and public participation provisions of this chapter, and the department’s planning processes, along with appropriate planning processes of other agencies, that lowering water quality is necessary to accommodate important economic or social development in the area in which the waters are located. In allowing such reductions in water quality, the department shall assure water quality adequate to protect existing uses fully.