Stormwater is run-off from rain events and snow melt that flows over hard surfaces like pavement, roofs and sidewalks and picks up debris and pollutants in its path. This flow is directed either into a storm sewer system or can go directly into our waterways. Even if stormwater goes into a storm sewer system, it still gets discharged directly into Coeur d’Alene Lake or the more »
With the remarkable rains over the last weeks, our waterways are both swollen with water, but also choked with pollution. Streams are running the color of chocolate. Stormwater runoff is probably the most significant problem for our region’s water quality. Unfortunately, there is very little being done to stop the flow of pollutants. In fact, a preliminary survey of industrial stormwater in Kootenai County indicates more »
I felt bad for the boy scout dutifully selling popcorn at the Spokane Albertsons Saturday. It’s a tough job. He was sitting there with his father and what looked like his younger sister raising money for the scouts to go to camp. They were probably there for hours. Although, I’m sure the scout’s troop would put the hard-earned fundraising dollars to good use, I’m less more »
Our many friends and neighbors on the east side of Coeur d’Alene Lake alerted us to the disturbing report that the venerable Camp Easton, a Boy Scout Camp for some 90 years, is in the process of being sold to a developer. Indeed, an offer from Discovery Land Company exists for the 383 acre camp, along with a “significant proposal that would fully fund building more »
This morning, Kootenai County Department of Parks and Waterways Director Nick Snyder forwarded a couple of photos of the 13 brand new “No Wake Zone” buoys just installed across the mouth of Cougar Bay last week. Snyder added: “In the next two weeks, we will have LED navigational lights affixed to the buoys. The buoys will help recreational boaters and marine law enforcement identify the more »
Announced Monday and likely to be approved by a federal court in the next month or two, Hecla Mining and the U.S. EPA have settled longstanding Superfund litigation. The settlement establishes Hecla’s contribution toward the costs of the Coeur d’Alene basin minewaste cleanup. According to news reports, Hecla has agreed to pay some $263 million toward the cleanup which is estimated to ultimately cost more more »
From KEA’s conservation advocate Adrienne Cronebaugh: Last summer, Idaho Department of Lands granted Kootenai County an encroachment permit to install mooring buoys inside Cougar Bay and no-wake zone buoys at the mouth of the bay. The installation of those mooring buoys had been of great concern to the residents of Cougar Bay as well as the many individuals in the community that visit the bay more »
In our line of work, we often need to remind ourselves that not everyone knows what we’re talking about. When we advocate for cleanup of the Coeur d’Alene basin, for example, we sometimes forget that not everyone knows that it’s a big mess. Recently, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and Idaho’s DEQ did a survey of what people know – and don’t know – about the more »
Late last week, we were forwarded an email from Greg Clark with the U.S. Geological Survey, whose team did some water monitoring during the flood event January 18th of this year. The monitoring in Harrison, where the Coeur d’Alene River flows into Coeur d’Alene Lake, shows that the conveyor belt of contamination from the upper basin to the lower basin was particularly bad during the more »
