Water Chief Selection Turns Heads Mabe Worked 17 Years As An Industry Lobbyist; Some Wonder If He Can Ensure Water Quality

Idaho’s new water quality chief is a former industry lobbyist.

David Mabe spent the past 17 years trying to keep government in check for a variety of interests, including the Idaho Farm Bureau and Intermountain Forest Industry Association.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne recently appointed Mabe as administrator of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality’s water quality office, heading up programs to safeguard drinking water, ground water and fish runs in lakes and rivers.

Government water quality protections often come with restrictions on logging, agriculture, manufacturing emissions and mining.

Over the years, Mabe helped shape water quality legislation on behalf of several polluting industries.

Many conservationists said handing him the water quality reins is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.

Mabe is an experienced “dirty water warrior,” said Ron Mitchell, director of the 2,000-member Idaho Sporting Congress.

Following a lawsuit by Mitchell’s group and the Idaho Conservation League, a federal judge in 1996 told Idaho to speed up its previous “glacial pace” of cleaning up polluted waterways.

Mitchell said Friday that Mabe’s appointment means Idaho will likely end up back in court.

“It looks like war,” he said. “He’s one of the worst possible people they could put in there.”

The state faces a raft of politically charged water quality struggles with the Environmental Protection Agency, including cleaning up polluted streams statewide and metals pollution in the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

A Post Falls farmer and environmental activist said the conflict with the feds occurs because Idaho keeps giving polluting industries too much influence.

“I can’t imagine this guy changing his stripes and his allegiance,” said Buell Hollister, chairman of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance.

But local politicians and even some environmental activists praised Mabe’s appointment.

“I’m glad to see somebody with a little different perspective,” said Dick Panabaker, a Kootenai County commissioner who chairs a group overseeing Coeur d’Alene Basin mining cleanup. “The environmental groups are pretty strong.”

Steven Allred, Kempthorne’s choice to head DEQ, spent 17 years with construction giant Morrison-Knudsen Corp., but so far has earned mostly favorable marks from the conservation community.

Mabe said his priorities are working through the agency’s reorganization and finalizing a budget.

His new job poses a challenge, Mabe acknowledged.

But he said he brings a unique perspective on water quality issues and a familiarity with the politicians and interests involved.

“I have a decent background. Most of these fights have been going on for a number of years, so I do have some pretty good historical perspective,” Mabe said.

Mabe worked as a lobbyist at the state level for a long list of employers, including the Idaho Farm Bureau, Intermountain Forest Industry Association, Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas, Idaho Petroleum Marketers Association, Amalgamated Sugar Co. of Utah and Easter Seals.

State records show Mabe terminated lobbying positions with eight companies, including the timber industry, on May 13.

Mark Solomon, former president of the Idaho Conservation League, credited Mabe’s familiarity with the process and said he’s going to wait and see.

“He’s someone who finally understands the reality of on-the-ground problems and water quality,” Solomon said. “Now we’ll see if he weights the political end or uses the benefit of his knowledge.”