Thorofare, breakwater take shape at Priest Lake

PRIEST LAKE — Restoration of the navigational lifeline to Upper Priest Lake is nearing completion.

"They’re hard at it up there," said Fred Cox of Save The Thorofare, a citizen group which formed to advocate for and assist in replacing the wizened timber breakwater at the north end of lower Priest Lake and dredging in the Thorofare, the channel that connects the two lakes.

Cox said dredging is largely complete and sediment that is pulled from the channel is being used to help construct a more impervious rock breakwater.

The previous breakwater was aging badly and sediment was washing down from Upper Priest Lake and creating a navigational impediment for motorboats.

Cox said the Thorofare was passable this summer by motorboats helmed by people who were aware of the obstruction. Others unfamiliar with the area weren't so lucky, however.

Cox recalls a boater in a larger Baja vessel running aground and taking up sand in the boat's engine.

"That’s an unpleasant experience. It would cost you a new engine, practically," said Cox. "He wasn’t the only one."

The Idaho Department of Water Resources, with the assistance of North Idaho lawmakers, obtained $2.4 million for the restoration project, while Save The Thorofare set a fundraising goal of $150,000.

Cox said Save The Thorofare has received donations from around Priest Lake and around the country, from places as far-flung as Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Donations came from some who haven't been to Priest Lake or Upper Priest Lake in years, but formed an abiding connection to them after having visited or spent time there.

One such donor, Jodi Haire of the Tri-Cities in Washington state, has donated five times, despite not having been to the lake in some time, according to Cox. Cox said Haire had a grandfather who had a cabin on the east side of the lake.

"He used to take her when she was a little girl — in a little rowboat with a five-horse engine on it — up the Thorofare," said Cox.

Cox said local homeowners' groups and businesses are also pitching in with in-kind donations. Sandpiper Shores allowed pieces of the demolished breakwater to be stockpiled on its property. Huckleberry Bay Co., meanwhile, is allowing the use of its burn pit to dispose of breakwater debris, which means the material won't have to be trucked all the way to the south end of the lake to the Dickensheet waste collection site, where disposal fees would be charged. Ken Storro Excavation is transporting the wood from the former breakwater to Huckleberry Bay's burn pit.

"That saves thousands of dollars," Cox said of the in-kind donations.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com or followed on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.