Priest Lake studies on a fast track

DOVER — An ambitious time frame is being plotted for studies of Priest Lake's fading breakwater, its embattled Thorofare and the Outlet Bay Dam.

“Our timeline is going to be pretty tight,” Steve Klatt, director of Bonner County Parks & Waterways, told the Idaho Lakes Commission on Thursday.

Klatt told commissioners that a request for qualifications from engineering firms are expected to be sent out this month and a selection made by May. Public hearings at Priest Lake are planned for June, July and August.

The county, meanwhile, is assembling a diverse steering committee representing residents and business at the lake, in addition to an array of officials from the county, the Lakes Commission and the Idaho departments of Fish & Game and Water Resources.

Klatt said a broad-based panel will be vital, as will the selection of a firm that can engage with the public.

“One of the unusual components of this for an engineering firm will be the emphasis on public involvement,” said Klatt.

The studies are meant to bring a lasting solution to the dilemma of the breakwater, an aging structure that helps ensure motorized boat access to Upper Priest Lake via the Thorofare.

Klatt hopes the studies will also shed light on a question he said has never really been answered.

“What's the structural integrity of the sandbar that sits there at the confluence of the Thorofare and the lake?”

Klatt said deep boring samples early on could provide that answer.

Stephanie Kline, president of the Sandpiper Shores homeowners association, said residents have been complaining about not residents being unable to get their boats out and visiting boaters are running aground.

“A lot of people, especially if you're not from the area could not navigate through. There were boats getting stuck all the time,” said Kline.

Kline said the Thorofare is quickly filling in and there is about only about 2 feet of clearance to the channel.

Kline asked if there was any work planned to repair the failing breakwater in the meantime. Klatt said there was not, although he said a grant to dredge the channel with a grant from the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation's waterways improvement fund appears to have a good chance.

The $300,000 in studies, which were approved for funding by Idaho lawmakers, will also examine how the Outlet Bay Dam could be utilized to keep the lake's summer pool at a reliable level in severe drought conditions.

Bonner County is the lead on the Thorofare and breakwater, while the Idaho Department of Water Resources is taking point on the Outlet Bay study, said Dale Van Stone, a member of the Idaho Water Resources Board.

“Hopefully by fall well have everything wrapped up,” Van Stone said of the studies.