Changes at dam may be delayed

Changes in operations at the Post Falls dam could be delayed for a year, according to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

Operated by Avista Utilities, the hydropower dam determines the level of Lake Coeur d’Alene and the flows in the Spokane River. The dam’s federal permit is being renewed and will set the course for operations, including lake and river levels, for a generation to come.

The new license was expected later this summer, but the Department of Environmental Quality says it needs more time and information before it can sign off, said Robert Steed, surface water ecologist for the DEQ. Washington and Idaho are required to approve the license.

Steed said Idaho is waiting until the federal government issues a final environmental impact statement on the new dam license. The document is expected in July and will include operating conditions.

The DEQ has until June 2008 to issue its certification. A public comment period will be offered before the state certifies the license, Steed said.

The new license is expected to offer substantial changes for Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River, including requirements to keep more water in the river during the hottest months. But every change in dam operations has ripple effects upstream and down – more water in the river in August, for example, could mean less in Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Although the changes are still being debated, they are expected to be an improvement over current operations, said Rick Eichstaedt, an environmental attorney for the Center For Justice, a public-interest Spokane law firm representing the Sierra Club in the relicensing process.

“The new license will be better than what’s happening now, no matter how you slice it,” Eichstaedt said.

Avista has said that any changes in the dam’s operations ultimately will be borne by the utility’s ratepayers.