HAYDEN — Geoff Harvey calls Hayden Lake “a tale of two lakes.” 

The southern end of the lake is deep, cold and healthy, but the northern end tells a different story. 

The Hayden Lake Watershed Association spent Saturday morning planting trees and creating hard barriers to maintain and protect Hayden Creek, which is Hayden Lake’s largest tributary.  

Years of abuse around Hayden Creek have created alarming issues around the northern end, Harvey said.

“The quality of our lake depends on the quality of our watershed,” he said.

Illegal ATV and vehicle use up and around Hayden Creek have elevated the release of sediment down Hayden Creek. 

“It is a poster child for abuse of our national forests up there,” said Harvey.    

This sediment is flowing down the creek and building up in the lake at rates that are higher than normal. 

While motorized vehicle use is legal on Forest Service roads, some choose to create their own illegal trails, paths, and bogs that are in and around the creek.

Using derelict docks from Hayden Lake, the HLWA created log barriers to keep motorized vehicles on the road. Dozens of trees were also planted in the illegal bogs to keep erosion down and keep sediment where it needs to be. 

Weak precipitation numbers combined with the above average flow into the lake have created a phosphorus-rich environment in the northern end. 

“The more sediment that comes in, the worse it gets,” Harvey said. “Over time, it can have an effect on the entire lake.” 

Last year, Hayden Lake faced a large cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, bloom. Swimming in, drinking and eating the fish from a cyanobacteria-infected lake can cause health issues.

Human activity affecting the lake isn’t a single issue, but a domino effect from masses of people abusing the land.  

“Those are all minor little things but they all add up and more people are doing that,” Harvey said.