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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho to study Priest Lake water level in case of future low-water years

Recreation continued near Outlet Dam in Priest Lake on Monday, August 10, 2015. A proposed cold-water bypass would pump cold water from deep in Priest Lake up and over Outlet Dam. The cold water, Idaho Fish and Game managers believe, would create a vibrant trout fishery in Priest River. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Last year’s drought created conflicts at one of North Idaho’s more popular mountain lakes.

There wasn’t enough water to keep Priest Lake at full pool for summer recreation as required by Idaho statute, while still providing for healthy downstream flows in Priest River. By late summer, the river was reduced to a trickle to protect the lake’s tourism economy.

The Idaho Water Resources Board has authorized a $300,000 study to look at potential solutions to the problem, which pitted lake users against river users.

Storing more water in Priest Lake for release into the river during drought years is a possible solution.

Ramping up storage could help prevent “what almost became a disastrous situation” last year with extremely low flows in Priest River, said Steve Klatt, Bonner County’s director of parks and waterways.

But there are technical, ecological and political issues to resolve, which is why the local Lakes Commission has been lobbying for a study.

“We hope there is a remedy during low-water years that can meet the needs of both Priest Lake and Priest River, but we need to know that this remedy does not have excessive impacts around the lake,” Ford Elsaesser, the Lakes Commission chairman, wrote in a letter to state officials.

A consultant will be hired to evaluate whether water levels can be raised 6 inches behind Outlet Dam, which controls the level of Priest Lake. The study will also look at how higher water levels would affect the lake’s ecology and lakeshore property owners.

A local steering committee will help guide the process. Klatt anticipates hiring a consultant later this spring, with public meetings in Priest Lake communities during the summer, so second-home owners could attend.

The $300,000 study would also look at the 3-mile-long channel that connects Lower and Upper Priest lakes. The channel, also called the “thorofare,” attracts up to 200 boats on summer weekend days that travel at no-wake speeds to Upper Priest Lake.

“The thorofare is part of the heartbeat of Priest Lake,” Klatt said.

But sand and silt have been flowing down the channel from Upper Priest Lake. The study will examine ways to protect the navigability of the thorofare, protect the migration of threatened bull trout in the channel and protect water quality in Lower Priest Lake.