SANDPOINT, Idaho – Lake Pend Oreille is the biggest summer attraction for Sandpoint. Residents are worried about potential low water levels in the lake this summer season.
“The lake is our summer pillar of recreation and tourism opportunities,” Bonner County resident David Phillips said. “There’s not going to be any water here.”
Phillips went to Sandpoint City Council on Wednesday evening to express his concerns. A problem in the Albeni Dam which sits upriver from Lake Pend Oreille may delay the US Corps of Engineers from starting to raise the lake’s water level until late May to mitigate flooding risk.
“If we do not start filling up until the beginning of June, we will be lucky to even reach peak level and we will be losing a month of our already four month season,” Phillips said.
A healthy lake can also make or break the city’s tourism economy.
“If boats can’t dock, then they can’t come up and eat [at our restaurant,]” Spud’s Waterfront Grill owner Matthew Kingsley said. “That’s big, a big part of our income is people coming by [on] boats and walking up here.”
Still, not everyone is ready to slam on the alarm just yet.
“This lake, it’s so big that we can get to spots that are deeper so it’s really not going to be too much of a problem,” local boater T.J. Willingham said. “As long as you can navigate, be careful as you’re doing that, and get out to those deeper spots it really should not be a problem.”
