1.   NPDES permits for Coeur d’ Alene and Hayden Area Wastewater Plants

An example of work done by the Environmental Committee is the testimony  giving before an EPA hearing officer on April 4, 2007 at the Cd’A Senior Center on the draft NPDES permits for the Spokane River. I think it is a good indicator of what can be done by association members when critical issues come before our association.  The SRA’s position was clearly given the EPA Hearing Officer.

“It is the position of the Spokane River Association that the current measured quality of the water in the Spokane River not be degraded by the issuance of the proposed NPDES permits.”

For detailed testimony see Hot News page. Currently the NPDES permits are projected to be released in March 2008. Members of the association should submit their comment to EPA at that time.

2. Coeur d’Alene Lake Management Plan

EPA Region 10’s OU3 Record of Decision (ROD) for Coeur d Alene Lake recommended a Lake Management Plan be developed by Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the CDA Tribe , Local governments and shareholders. After many false starts and approximately 5 years ID DEQ and CDA Tribe along with EPA and their facilitator have written and released for comments a Draft CDA Lake Management Plan (LMP) for public comment. The “local governments” were excluded from the drafting of the “Draft LMP” upon recommendation of the EPA provided facilitator, since he found that no LMP could be developed if the “Local governments” participated in face-to-face discussions with the CDA Tribe. Comments to the Draft LMP are due to ID DEQ by August 25, 2008. Copies of the Draft LMP can be obtained either at ID DEQ’s Coeur d’ Alene’s Regional Office, the CDA Tribe’s Coeur d’ Alene’s down town office or on the ID DEQ web site. It is highly recommended that individual SRA members read and furnish their comments on the Draft LMP directly to ID DEQ, but if that is not possible contact the Environmental Committee with your comments so they maybe included in a joint response to ID DEQ being prepared by the Board of Directors of both the CDA Lakeshore Owners Association and SRA. These latter specific comments should be submitted to the Board of Directors by August 16, 2008.

3. Partners with Idaho DEQ in the Citizens Monitoring Program

Association members Ross and Vicky Walkinshaw are the dedicated association members that physically do the tedious job of obtaining water samples from the Spokane River during the summer months (June-September) and forwards them to the DEQ Regional Office in Coeur d’ Alene for testing.  Vicky Walkinshaw then maintains an excellent database of all data collected over the last 17 years. These data readily demonstrates the large gains in lowering nutrient levels in the Spokane River and are used frequently by the committee when discussing the “water cleanliness” with other groups.

4. County Comprehenseive Plan

The Kootenai County Planning and Zoning Commission has recently completed a draft of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan which will control “development” in Kootenai County for the foreseeable future. The draft plan is currently being updated by the Planning Commission and then will be submitted to the public for their comments. A copy of the draft can be seen at the following website:
www.kcgov.us/department/planning/newcompplan.asp
In the future, the Comprehensive Plan will be submitted by the Planning and Zoning Commission to the public for a 30 day period for comments. After incorporating the public’s comments into the Document it will be forwarded to the County Board of Commissioners for their approval.

For more information, contact Rusty Sheppard, Environmental Chair, 208.773.9116, rustyshep@roadrunner.com.