Thank you Craig Wilcox and Len Crosby for providing additional information of the Spokane River water issues with your MY TURN article. I thought this was just a Post Falls issue. I now see that it will hit each Kootenai County resident in the pocketbook.

How can the Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE) dictate a policy or practice that is not even possible with today's technology? Who oversees WDOE? Are those downstream from us being held to the same standards? I understand that the water treatment stipulations will not be the same for those in Washington. How preposterous. What treatments have been done at Long Lake to take care of their phosphorus problem? What actions have been taken on the Spokane River in the state of Washington to eradicate or eliminate their phosphorus problem in Long Lake? Have all efforts been exhausted in the state of Washington to take care of their own problem? To put a Washington burden on North Idaho is ludicrous. It seems like this is just another avenue for the state of Washington to SHUT DOWN North Idaho economic development, making Washington look more business friendly. This could literally shut down Economic Development in North Idaho as we may not be able to provide the water services required for new businesses or new housing with the new Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements.

I have not heard any sort of statements from our County Commissioners regarding this issue. Where do they stand on this issue? I have contacted my state and federal elected officials about this ridiculous threat by our Washington neighbors.

We graciously await the answers to each of these questions before we, the citizens of North Idaho, can consider this with any degree of priority given the nearly insurmountable current economic challenges we are already facing.

SUZANNA SPENCER

Spirit Lake