Fluctuating the Level of Lake Pend Oreille

The US Army Corps of Engineers along with the  Bonneville Power Administration are proposing to fluctuate the level of Lake Pend Oreille several times between January and April, for power generation. This raising and lowering the lake and river could produce serious consequences, such as:

1. Increasing erosion could cause high levels of sediment resulting in TMDL  (total maximum daily load) which others are attempting to limit to protect our impaired water quality.
2. Aquatic invasive species  could spread significantly without constant lower levels.
3. Docks along with exposed water pipes could be destroyed from the ice moving.
4. Impacts to fish and wildlife are unknown.

All this is being proposed without any studies.

The Army Corp’s web site has some information. We encourage you to contact them with your concerns.

At the public meeting Tuesday evening it was revealed that the reason Bonneville Power wanted to be able to fluctuate the level was so they could take advantage of higher power rages and maximize their profits.

When it was explained to them there could be millions of dollars of lost just from the ice damaging the docks, the people at the meeting were told they could file a suit against the government. An attorney pointed out in the room that the government is protected from those suits.

The Army Corp dealt with the environmental concerns by saying that they are studying it. It was pointed out that their studies were just starting and there was no studies showing that fluctuating the levels wouldn’t produce environmental damage.

The fishermen in the room pointed out how the water on the ice would prevent them from fishing.

It was obvious with the Corp’s repeated comment that they didn’t need to do the meeting showed that the meeting was a PR event that backfired. They hoped that to improve the Corp’s bad rep, unfortunately for them they only added to it.

Other then the people with the presenters, there was no one in the auditorium that supported the fluctuation. It was Bonneville Power that wants it… we will see if they get what they want.

Others get our waters, money and power – we get the environmental and economic effects.

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Tagged as: Bonneville Power Administration, Lake Pend Oreille, United States Army Corps of Engineers, US Army Corps of Engineers