thumbnail

Sampling and Analysis Plan for the Water-Quality Monitoring Program in Lake Koocanusa and Upper Kootenai River, Montana, Water Years 2022–23

Open-File Report 2026-1005
By: , , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261005

Links

Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, collected water-quality samples and environmental data in Lake Koocanusa (also known as “Koocanusa Reservoir”), the Kootenai River, and the Tobacco River during water years 2022–23. The transboundary Lake Koocanusa is in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northwestern Montana, United States. It was formed by constructing Libby Dam on the Kootenai River 26 kilometers upstream from Libby, Montana. One of the lake sites and the Kootenai River site, in the Libby Dam tailwater (the outflow of the lake flow into the Kootenai River), were equipped with automated, high-frequency ServoSipper water samplers. At the lake site, these samplers were mounted to pontoon platforms during the summer, and a submersible ServoSipper sipper was deployed with ice buoys during the winter. Samples were automatically collected from multiple depths. At the Kootenai River site, these samplers were housed in the gage house. In water year 2022, discrete water-quality samples were collected every 4–6 weeks, year round, at all four lake sites in the Kootenai River between April and November. In water year 2023, discrete water-quality samples were collected at three lake sites and the Kootenai and Tobacco River sites every 4–6 weeks. The goal of this project was to collect multidepth, high-frequency vertical and temporal water-quality samples and data to understand the limnological and biological processes that control variations and trends in selenium concentrations and loads throughout Lake Koocanusa and in the Libby Dam tailwater at the southern end of the lake. This sampling and analysis plan documents the organization, sampling and data-collection scheme and design, pre- and post-collection processes, and quality-assurance and quality-control procedures of the Koocanusa/Kootenai water-quality monitoring program during water years 2022–23.

Suggested Citation

King, L.R., Caldwell Eldridge, S.L., Schaar, M.A., Schmidt, T.S., Chapin, T., and Bussell, A.M., 2026, Sampling and analysis plan for the water-quality monitoring program in Lake Koocanusa and upper Kootenai River, Montana, water years 2022–23: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2026–1005, 39 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261005.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Sampling and Analysis Plan
  • Sample Documentation and Chain of Custody
  • Quality Assurance and Quality Control
  • Laboratory Analysis
  • Data Management and Reporting
  • Health and Safety
  • Training and Certification
  • Acknowledgments
  • References Cited
  • Appendix 1. Analytes and Methods
  • Appendix 2. Job Hazard Analysis for Lake Koocanusa and Upper Kootenai River, Montana, Water-Quality Monitoring Program, Water Years 2022–23
  • Appendix 3. Quality-Control Samples Collected
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Sampling and analysis plan for the water-quality monitoring program in Lake Koocanusa and upper Kootenai River, Montana, water years 2022–23
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2026-1005
DOI 10.3133/ofr20261005
Publication Date April 02, 2026
Year Published 2026
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
Description vi, 39 p.
Country United States
State Montana
Other Geospatial Lake Koocanusa and Upper Kootenai River
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Additional publication details