County commissioners in Flathead and Lake counties are exploring the possibility of creating a water quality district that would focus on keeping aquatic invasive species out of Flathead Lake.

The three commissioners from Lake County traveled to Kalispell last month to pitch the idea.

Flathead Commissioner Dale Lauman supported the idea.

“We should proceed,” Lauman said. “It shows cooperation with the two counties and the tribe. Let’s take the next step and meet as commissions.” He said the Flathead County contingent would travel to Polson for the next discussion. 

Lake County Commissioner Bill Barron said the venture is an opportunity for the two counties to be proactive, rather than reactive as they often are forced to be. “We could start something good for this basin,” Barron said.

Lake County Commissioner Ann Brower told other commissioners it was important to “not take too long” to move forward.

However, Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist said she wasn’t ready to make a commitment. She worried that more effort needs to be taken at lakes that are infected rather than trying “to catch a moving target,” as a boat moves from one body of water to another.

Holmquist did acknowledge there is some need to address the issue.

Lake County Commissioner Paddy Trusler suggested the two county commissions solicit public opinion and start informing the public about the issue.

He then wants the two counties to adopt resolutions related to creating a local district. It’s important for Flathead and Lake counties to work together on efforts related to Flathead Lake, Trusler said.

Caryn Miske, executive director of the Flathead Basin Commission, explained how local water quality districts work. The districts can focus on groundwater and surface water issues, she said.

Miske acknowledged that sometimes the public doesn’t favor creating another governing district. “People view it as another layer of government and it comes with more taxes, but there are real benefits,” she said.

Among those benefits are that the local districts are designed to address needs on the ground.

“State agencies, while well intentioned, don’t do well at implementing programs on the ground,” Miske said.

Four areas in Montana — Missoula, Gallatin, Lewis and Clark counties and in Butte-Silver Bow — have created water districts, Miske said. The Butte-Silver Bow district has one employee and the other three districts employ two or three professional staffers.

In 2001, Flathead County voters overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to create a countywide water-quality district. The ballot issue was defeated 7,869 to 1,351.

An assessment and analysis of water quality issues around Flathead Lake showed a need for a local water quality district, Miske said. “The list was long and the needs are great,” she said. It became especially apparent that there is a need to address the control of two aquatic invasive species — mussels and Eurasian water milfoil.

At the local level, “not much” is being done to battle either of those species, Miske said, and efforts at a state level are inadequate.

The state spends $340,000 a year to control the two species throughout the entire state, she said, compared to about $1.2 million spent by Idaho. Montana’s spending “is not even in the ballpark of what will suffice,” she said.

Montana needs a rapid response team, inspection sites and public education about the spread of mussels and preventive measures, Miske said.

“If we’re going to keep invasive species out of the Flathead Basin, we will have to rely on more than just state resources,” Miske said.

When people respond “why bother” to Miske’s pleas for controlling invasive species, she responds there “is really good reason to bother.”

Invasive species cause havoc, Miske said.

“The economic impacts are significant enough to justify the expenses now,” she said. Her data shows $1 spent today to prevent the species from living in a body of water saves between $25 and $75 it would cost to kill or remove the species if a body of water is infested.

If Flathead Lake were to be infested with either zebra or quagga mussels, complete eradication is nearly impossible, short of poisoning the entire lake, Miske said.

But keeping the mussels out is possible, as has been done at Lake Tahoe, she said. 

Mussels are known to invade hydropower operations and cause damage that can result in increased power costs. 

Quagga and zebra mussels pile on top of one another and can build layers thick enough they clog pipes and water intake systems. The mussels clog motors and water intakes on boats.

Mussels can attach themselves to anything. When mussels die, their sharp shells collect on beaches, emitting a bad odor and creating walking hazards.

“Can a water quality district help?” Miske asked rhetorically. “I think it can.”

If other people agree with that idea, she said the next step is to determine how to proceed.

Miske wants a water quality district to provide boat inspections to look for mussels that may have attached themselves to boats coming to the Flathead and to educate the public about the mussels in an attempt to prevent them from getting into Flathead Lake.

She knows it would be nearly impossible to inspect boats at every dock at Flathead Lake. A better approach would be to have inspection sites at the eight points of entry to the Flathead Basin, she said. 

Another idea she suggested is to share costs of inspection sites with the state of Idaho, and inspect boats at ports of entry and other high-traffic spots. It’s important to involve Canadian authorities in any inspection plan, too, Miske said, because many boats used in the Flathead are owned by Canadians.

She suggested any inspection effort eventually be coordinated with Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The Flathead Basin Commission plans to staff an inspection site this summer near Ravalli, near the intersection of U.S. 93 and Montana 200, Miske said.

Holmquist asked how it’s possible to inspect all the cavities of a boat to make sure a mussel isn’t on a boat.

Miske said one option, which is used in Idaho, is to quarantine any boat found with a mussel for about 10 days, which is long enough that any hidden mussels die.

Lauman said it’s important that the focus of any invasive species effort be preventive, not how to eliminate it once it’s already in Flathead Lake.

“Montana is behind other states,” Lauman said. Now’s the time to get the two counties and the tribe involved in a plan to prevent damage. With the Legislature cutting state spending, Lauman wasn’t optimistic that any additional state dollars would be designated to the effort.

“That’s why we support a local plan,” Trusler said. “Local districts can sustain the funding.”

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.