The Post Falls Police Department and the Kootenai County marine deputies have begun collaborations to patrol county waterways, specifically the Spokane River, this boating season.

“We’re going to be writing a memorandum of agreement,” Kootenai County Commissioner Leslie Duncan said Tuesday. “There is not an agreement yet. We are moving forward to solidify an agreement. We want to work together — there is consensus.”

The county currently employs seven marine deputies, including Lead Marine Deputy Justin Arts.

“We need 12 deputies,” Arts said. “That would allow us to have a dedicated presence on the river. We work in two-man teams, that would mean six teams — a dedicated team on the river. Our enforcement can go up. We’re also a visual deterrent. Our violations go down because we’re always out there.”

“I think agency cooperation is very important,” Duncan said. “It solidifies community.”

The hiccup, however, is funding.

“The commissioners are looking for somewhere to come up with that funding,” Arts said. “They are going to try to do their best to come up with some funding.”

“We have to work out the details,” Kootenai County Commissioner Chris Fillios said. “But we’ll be paying for it.”

County Ordinance 6-2-4 covers vessel operations on the Spokane River. Per the ordinance, the speed limit on the Spokane River is 35 mph during daylight hours and 25 mph at night. A no-wake zone exists within 100 feet of a dock, shoreline, or structure. Boaters need to be traveling at a speed no greater than 5 mph and create no wake in that zone.

The Kootenai County marine deputies now simply don’t have enough personnel to enforce the laws on county waterways.

“Primary issues regarding terms of enforcement are speed and wake,” Fillios said. “The key focus is going to be on enforcement, because that is what was lacking in the past.”

However, the Coeur d’Alene Lake Homeowners Association, RiverFriends2019, and the Spokane River Association think the existing laws for travel on county waterways are not enough to prevent erosion and property damage on the lake and river.

President of the Spokane River Association Jim Stafford has advocated for a 500-foot no large/excessive wake zone for all county waterways. The group also proposed that the wake should be set at 24 inches from trough to crest.

“Many feel that we also need to address the issue of excessive wake,” Fillios said. “That is a more complex issue. Short of sophisticated equipment to measure wave height, it is very difficult to enforce.”