Otter vows vigilance on lake levels

SANDPOINT — Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter seeks to allay concerns that revisions to the 1964 Columbia River Treaty will impact Lake Pend Oreille.

Otter advised the Idaho Lakes Commission that Idaho has been prominently at the table with the region’s other states and sovereign tribes from the very beginning of the revision process.

“As a result, the draft treaty recommendation recently submitted to the U.S. State Department calls for no changes to current management operations at Lake Pend Oreille,” Otter said in a letter to the commission.

The letter was read Tuesday to the commission by Katie Brodie, Otter’s northern Idaho field representative. It was greeted with applause by an overflowing audience at Dover City Hall.

The treaty revision is perceived as a threat to the lake’s levels, as is an agreement between to Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians to consider using late-summer or early-autumn releases of lake water to cool bull trout habitat below Albeni Falls Dam.

Preliminary temperature modeling conducted by the corps suggests that releases can cool the Pend Oreille River by nearly 1 degree. It remains unclear, however, if the releases can provide meaningful benefit to bull trout.

Additional modeling runs are expected, according to the corps.

In the meantime, the state has reached an agreement with federal resource managers to solidify lake levels through September.

The full summer pool elevation of 2,062 feet above sea level will be maintained until Sept. 15. The lake elevation will be at least 2,061 feet through the third weekend of September and 2,060.5 feet until the end of the month.

Otter told the commission that he’s “deeply concerned” about the potential for federal agencies to adversely alter summer and fall levels on Lake Pend Oreille. He also vowed to remain vigilant to any threats to those levels.

“I want to stress that I intend to use all available means to protect the sovereign rights of our state to make sure that Lake Pend Oreille is first and foremost managed in accordance with the needs and interests of Idahoans,” Otter said in the letter.