Author: Tara Kleffner

Project Sponsor

Coeur d’Alene Tribe

Purpose

This project is a collaboration between the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, University of Oregon, and Indiana State University. This team is analyzing lakebed sediment core samples from Coeur d’Alene Lake and determining how the history of metals contamination and recovery actions along the Coeur d’Alene River have impacted the lake. The analyses focus on geochemistry and ecological parameters through time and seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What was the lake’s baseline ecology and environmental condition before mining impacts and other human activities? 
2. How has the lake’s ecology and environmental condition changed through the mining era and the subsequent remedial, restoration, and lake management work?
3. If recent history continues, how do we expect the lake’s ecology and environmental conditions to respond, given the paleolimnologic context generated by this study?

Funding

This project received $200,000 from Governor Little’s Leading Idaho initiative, with matching funds provided by Avista Corp ($200,000) and the Coeur d’Alene Basin Restoration Partnership.

Current Status

Core samples were collected in September 2024. The analyses have started and will continue over the next two to three years. The final report is expected in 2027.

Outcome

This project will provide information to guide future restoration efforts. More realistic lake restoration goals can be set when viewed through a richer historical lens than what is provide by the current lake monitoring record.