KALISPELL
- There's just something about a nice, clean mountain lake that
makes people want to live along its shores.
And then there's
just something about living along its shores that makes a mountain
lake not so nice and clean anymore.
The apparent paradox,
destroying the very amenities that attract us to a place, is at the
heart of a first-ever regional "large lakes" conference, set, like
all those new homes, on the southern shore of Flathead Lake at
Polson's Kwa-Taq-Nuk Resort on Oct. 17 and 18.
Sponsored by
the multiagency Flathead Basin Commission, the nonprofit Flathead
Lakers and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, organizers
say the gathering pulls together the stories of lakeshore life
throughout the West, from California to British Columbia.
Scientists, local leaders and residents from those various
waterways will discuss how they have dealt with - or have failed to
deal with - exactly the sort of residential and commercial
development pressures now squeezing Flathead Lake.
Much
too much
Scientists already tell us Flathead's waters
have too much algae, too much carbon, too much nitrogen, not enough
oxygen. There are too many non-native species, too much summertime
temperature stratification, not enough cool-water
habitat.
Bonnie Ellis, a research professor at the University
of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station, concluded her 2007
"State of the Lake" report by writing that "of the 189 largest
freshwater lakes of the world, Flathead Lake is one of the cleanest,
but there are several water quality concerns that warrant continued
monitoring."
Those concerns are all too familiar to the
experts convened for the regional conference, "Lessons of the Lakes:
Promoting Water Quality Amidst Community Growth."
People will
be there from Lake Tahoe, and from British Columbia's Okanagan, and
from Coeur d'Alene and Pend Oreille in Idaho, from Oregon, Alberta
and Nevada.
For two days, they will participate in
interactive panels and workshops, exploring the threats residential
growth poses to the region's large and scenic mountain
lakes.
Scientists are on the schedule, as are
environmentalists and real estate developers and politicians,
regulators and everyday lake livers.
The audience, organizers
hope, will be flush with state lawmakers, county commissioners,
local planners, public health officials, and anyone, really, who
still enjoys a day on the lake, despite the increasing
crowds.
'Bad economics'
According to economist
Larry Swanson of the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky
Mountain West, degrading Flathead's water quality in the rush to
subdivide is, in the long term, "just plain bad
economics."
The value of the lake to the region's economy, a
slippery figure to be sure, has been estimated at more than $10
billion, making its protection an important part of continued
growth.
The large-lakes conference opens with a cultural and
historical perspective delivered by the tribes, then launches into
the minutiae of who's moving in and why, and what that urbanization
means for long-term water quality.
They'll pore over the
multijurisdictional brew that oversees Western waterfronts, explore
regulations and voluntary incentives, dig into the toolbox of what's
possible, what's not and what works.
Day two opens with
remarks from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, then gets specific with up-close
looks at specific lakes and specific threats, such as gravel pits
and invasive species and common household contaminants.
Published on Sunday, October 07, 2007. Last
modified on 10/7/2007 at 2:22 am
Billingsgazette.com
encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their
neighbors. Comments that are submitted go into a queue to be
moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. By submitting a
comment, you are agreeing to the terms & conditions set out in
our comment policy.
If you have any
problems with the new Talk Back! system, please email us.
Contact
Us | Subscribe
Comment Display Options
.gif){kind=spacer}
