The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is about to start a multi-year project to improve kokanee spawning habitat in Lake Pend Oreille.

Small gravel will be added along a shoreline dominated by large rocks and is not currently used by kokanee for spawning.

Adding a layer of smaller gravel overtop of this larger rock will provide kokanee with material they can readily move and deposit eggs within.

Additionally, the site selected for this habitat enhancement has naturally occurring downwelling currents where lake water enters the adjacent aquifer.

Fish and Game research has shown that spawning kokanee benefit from these currents.

"Egg incubation success is about three times higher when downwelling currents are present," said Andy Dux, a research biologist with Fish and Game.

The combination of suitable gravel and downwelling currents should create high-quality spawning habitat for kokanee, Dux said.

The project site will start in Idlewilde Bay immediately to the west of the Eagle boat ramp in Farragut State Park.

The site will extend nearly a half mile westward along the shoreline.

Gravel will be added to depths that are not influenced by winter drawdowns.

About 3,900 cubic yards of gravel will be added to the lake bottom over the next three years, of which about 1,300 cubic yards will be added this year.

Contractors are scheduled to begin gravel placement on Oct. 6 and work will be completed by Oct. 31.

The Eagle boat ramp will remain open during the project. The lanes on the western half of the ramp, however, will be closed when contractors are working.

Visitors should expect to see dump-truck traffic on the road system in Farragut State Park and a large barge operating on the shoreline.

The barge will be used to transport the gravel and an excavator onboard the barge will be used to place the gravel. Gravel placement will be evaluated by divers and an underwater video camera.

This project is being funded by the Bonneville Power Administration as partial mitigation for impacts from Albeni Falls Dam.

Fish and Game has obtained appropriate permits to implement the project and will monitor project effects this year and in the future.

"This is a beneficial project because it will provide kokanee with more spawning habitat in the lake and it will be available to the fish regardless of the winter lake elevation," Dux said.