The Priest Lake cold-water bypass project may gain new ground as Idaho Fish and Game next week unveils a few potential ways to lower the temperature of Priest River.

The department plans a 3 to 6 p.m. public meeting June 20 at the Priest Lake Elementary, and a day earlier, at the Lakes Commission meeting set June 19 at the Priest Lake Event Center.

“No decision has been made to construct any of the proposed alternatives,” Kiira Siitari of Fish and Game said.

But the idea remains: creating a tailwater type fishery in the northwest corner of the state.

“That’s the concept,” Siitari said.

A recently completed assessment, which cost around $70,000 and was paid in part through the Clark Fork Settlement Agreement stemming from federal hydroelectric projects in the basin, looked at new ways to drop the river’s water temperature and determine their feasibility, Siitari said.

The original idea, floated several years ago, called for a pump to suck cold water from the lake’s depths, over the dam at the southern end of Priest Lake and into Priest River, which runs 45 miles from the lake into the Pend Oreille River.

The latest alternatives include a pump system, a siphon system, a gravity feed and a ground water well system, Siitari said.

Lowering the water in the river could create a trout fishery like other popular fisheries in North Idaho rivers such as the upper Coeur d’Alene system and the St. Joe.

River temperatures in Priest River usually hit around 70 degrees in the summer, too warm to support a trout fishery. Stocking efforts in the past were unsuccessful because bull trout and Westslope cutthroat need water temperatures below 65 degrees to thrive.

“Even small changes here are going to make a difference,” Siitari said.

Pushing cold water through a pipe into the river is not expected to lower the lake level because as little as 4 percent of that cold, deep layer of water is expected to flow into the river. It will have an effect in the river however, that could reach many miles.

“We wanted to make sure the engineers could build something that would have an affect well downstream,” Siitari said.

Fish and Game has said that having another strong river fishery in North Idaho could boost the area economically. The department’s dollar estimates show that the Coeur d’Alene River generates $3.1 million in revenue, while the St. Joe generates $4.1 million annually.