Corps Has A Chance To Repay Kokanee

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prides itself on being a cando organization. But for some reason it can’t muster the will to try to save the world-renowned kokanee fishery in Lake Pend Oreille.

The corps has yet to commit to a promising experiment, recently endorsed by the Northwest Power Planning Council, that would leave the lake level 3 to 5 feet higher than normal the next three winters. Idaho biologists say the extra water is needed to cover shoreline gravel, giving kokanees more places to lay their eggs.

The corps owes the kokanees this one.

In 1966, its decision to drop the Lake Pend Oreille level 11 feet for the sake of power production hit the prized “silvers” hard by eliminating salmon beds. The corps, which also is heavily blamed for the decline of Columbia River Basin salmon, can undo some of the damage and be a hero for a change by signing onto this project.

If the experiment works, the higher lake levels not only will benefit the kokanee but also Lake Pend Oreille’s famous trophy fish that feed on them, such as rainbow and bull trout. The Idaho Panhandle recreation industry - marinas, sporting goods dealers, guides and other businesses that cater to fishermen - also depend on these land-locked salmon.

Of course, the corps has a responsibility to energy consumers to keep power prices as low as possible. But the annual cost of the experiment, now estimated as low as $3 million, is negligible in the Bonneville Power Administration’s multibillion-dollar budget. The figure represents mere pennies to regional ratepayers.

The corps faces two obstacles if it’s going to do the right thing. But both are doable.

First, it must find a way to pay for power from other sources - power that would replace what is not generated at downstream dams, in the event that less water is released from Lake Pend Oreille this winter. The BPA is working with the Northwest Power Planning Council to find several million dollars to do that.

Then, the corps is worried that the different water level might erode Native American cultural sites along the shoreline. The corps says it may need money to reinforce those sites - if and when it finds them.

On the other hand, the experiment has a powerful supporter in U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. Said Craig in a letter to the corps: “In this plan, the corps has a ready-made tool which can help recover an important fishery, save a regional economy and benefit the entire ecosystem. … The proposal offers a way to do that at minimal cost and with no risk to other species.”

All the corps needs now is the will to get this project done.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board