High water raises West Nile fears in Bonners Ferry

BONNERS FERRY, Idaho – Boundary County residents woke to sunshine Sunday morning and news that the Kootenai River no longer is projected to reach flood stage.

Yet, officials remain concerned that the extensive dike system protecting 33,000 acres of farmland still could break because the river is expected to remain just a foot below flood stage for another week. The earthen dikes, constructed in the 1920s through the 1940s, weaken as they become saturated with water.

“There are a lot of unknowns now,” said Mayor Darrell Kerby.

Mosquitoes and fear of the West Nile virus became new worries Sunday after an entomologist reported that droves of mosquitoes have hatched in floodwaters on the west side of the valley.

Kerby said the experts are still deciding what type of mosquito abatement program the county might need.

West Nile was identified in a dead raven found in 2002 in Washington’s Pend Oreille County, which borders Boundary County. West Nile can be spread from birds to humans by some mosquitoes. In 2004, 2,539 human cases of West Nile Virus were reported, including 100 deaths, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site.

Kerby said officials plan to ask Idaho Gov. Jim Risch, who toured the area Friday and declared an emergency, to seek Federal Emergency Management Agency money to help pay for repairs of eroding dikes and, perhaps, mosquito abatement.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to assess the river today to see how extensive dike damage has been along the Kootenai River between Bonners Ferry and where it flows north into British Columbia.

They may get the damage report to Risch by this afternoon, which would allow him to begin seeking federal emergency money.

Even though the flood warning was lifted Sunday, there’s still a possibility that the river could hit flood levels this week. Montana’s Lake Koocanusa is expected to be full by Tuesday, meaning the corps will have to start releasing more water from Libby Dam into the Kootenai River. That could potentially revive the flood alerts, especially if the region gets more rain.

“We are in it for at least another week, more likely two weeks plus,” Kerby said.

Farmers have been fighting high water for four weeks and each day that the river remains above 1,758 feet, or six feet below flood stage, crop damage increases. Already crop damage is estimated at $2.5 million.

When the river rises, water flows under the dikes and the groundwater rises. That leaves standing water in the fields, which saturates the plants’ roots. Grains, like wheat, turn yellow and don’t make seeds.

Bob Olson, a farmer and president of the Kootenai Valley Reclamation Association that includes the 14 drainage districts, said his fears haven’t gone away even though the river only increased about an inch Saturday night.

“It’s the long term that’s going to do the job on those dikes,” Olson said. “The flows are going to keep coming.”

Kerby said officials need to evaluate what happened this spring and determine if there is any way to maintain the river and Libby Dam to prevent a reoccurrence.

“We need to know if we could have avoided all of this,” Kerby said.