Hayden Lake is a beautiful and popular lake in our region, but it’s increasingly troubled. Kootenai Environmental Alliance has launched the multi-pronged Hayden lake Project as a concentrated effort to conserve the resource, restore water quality and protect the lake from current and future threats.
In 1998, Hayden Lake was deemed a water body with threatened water quality under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, with phosphorous being identified as the significant pollutant of concern. Phosphorus pollution creates excess nutrient loading which affects cold water aquatic life by reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen available. Phosphorous sources include sediment and runoff generated by:
logging
new development in and around the watershed
shoreline septic systems
storm water
detergents containing phosphorous
ashes from campfires and forest fires
pet and livestock waste
Our Hayden Lake Project consists of outreach, education, and on-the-water and on-the-ground restoration projects:
Phase 1 – Expand public awareness about Hayden Lake and improve the public’s watershed IQ
Good news for everyone who values clean water! The Hayden Lake Project got a gold star on its first official report card. What The Hayden Lake Project Is: The project, which launched in 2009 and operates under the direction of Kootenai Environmental Alliance (KEA), conducts water quality research in and around Hayden Lake. It uses new technologies and science-backed methods that are well proven to more »
As summer is starting to fade into fall I am reminded and wishing for that amazing warm weather we saw this season. With that weather and current pollutants found in lakes, two documented blue green algae blooms exploded in Fernan and Hayden lakes causing health advisories and shutting down lake access. Why is Blue Green Algae showing up in our lakes? Blue Green Algae is more »
If there’s one thing we notice in the KEA office, it is that the days on the calendar keep flying at us. Every day is a new challenge. In the brief respite afforded by a slightly less frantic holiday week, here is a compilation of things we’ll be watching as the new year unfolds. 1. Dike Road Trees — At some point in 2012, we’re more »
We were pleasantly surprised when we heard that, last Thursday, the Kootenai County Commissioners had rejected a proposal to eliminate water quality protections in an ongoing subdivision development above Hayden Lake. The Commissioners voted 3-0 to overturn a hearing examiner decision that would have removed development restrictions on the Falls at Hayden Lake subdivision. In a hotly contested hearing process in 2008, the 46-lot Falls more »
Faced with a subdivision proposal on a steep hillside above Hayden Lake, the Kootenai County Commissioners struggled today with the County’s subdivision ordinances and denied the request. The subdivision would have placed some 34 homes on steep slopes and erodible soils just above Hayden Lake – not far from where East Hayden Lake Road washed out in the recent spring rains. The Commissioners wrestled with more »
