The Story of a Once Wild River: Collecting Data on Lake Koocanusa
by By Heather Leschied, Program Manager
From my viewpoint looking out over Lake Koocanusa, I can’t help but imagine this landscape; pre-highway 3, pre-Libby dam, pre-flood. A wild river called the Kootenay. A river allowed to travel its course from riverbank to riverbank, and back again. Constantly depositing precious gravel, spawning substrates and nutrients to feed the river system. An endless system, originating north of Kootenay National Park, crossing the border into Montana, and back again to rest for a time as Kootenay Lake before plunging into the Columbia River at Castlegar.
At times the landscape seems stark, without life. When the wind picks up it brings dust and debris. 2,444. The number is repeated over and over. This is the current height of the reservoir. This number dictates life here. Too little, and the water is out of reach. Too much, and favourite swimming and fishing holes are lost. It’s a constant struggle. All this amongst the need to produce hydroelectric power and mostly importantly, revenues. Revenues that don’t benefit the people the reservoir impacts the most. Past compensation agreements excluded the people of Koocanusa, left out the nutrient needs of the fish and the wildlife that depend on them.
But today, an engaged community hopes to change this. I am here with the field team from the East Kootenay Integrated Lake Management Partnership, a multi-stakeholder initiative that has been developing Shoreline Management Guidelines for East Kootenay lakes since 2006. With moral support from the Lake Koocanusa Community Council, and financial support from the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, we are conducting a Foreshore Inventory and Fish and Wildlife Habitat Assessment with the intention to develop guidelines that will protect the most sensitive habitat values of the lake.
To read the whole article and watch a short sighting of a Long Billed Curlew go to the link above.
At times the landscape seems stark, without life. When the wind picks up it brings dust and debris. 2,444. The number is repeated over and over. This is the current height of the reservoir. This number dictates life here. Too little, and the water is out of reach. Too much, and favourite swimming and fishing holes are lost. It’s a constant struggle. All this amongst the need to produce hydroelectric power and mostly importantly, revenues. Revenues that don’t benefit the people the reservoir impacts the most. Past compensation agreements excluded the people of Koocanusa, left out the nutrient needs of the fish and the wildlife that depend on them.
But today, an engaged community hopes to change this. I am here with the field team from the East Kootenay Integrated Lake Management Partnership, a multi-stakeholder initiative that has been developing Shoreline Management Guidelines for East Kootenay lakes since 2006. With moral support from the Lake Koocanusa Community Council, and financial support from the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, we are conducting a Foreshore Inventory and Fish and Wildlife Habitat Assessment with the intention to develop guidelines that will protect the most sensitive habitat values of the lake.
To read the whole article and watch a short sighting of a Long Billed Curlew go to the link above.
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