Lake Health 101 + Water Quality Testing

For our April 16 session, fellows gathered at the Harbor Center in Coeur d'Alene — where the lake gives way to the river — for a hands-on introduction to water quality science, led in partnership by the Idaho DEQ, IWRRI, the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission (BEIPC), and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe Natural Resources Department.

Working in pairs, fellows collected water samples from the dock – measuring temperature, noting transparency, and testing for dissolved oxygen. We took Phytoplankton samples and brought them back inside the lab, where fellows got their first look at the microscopic life driving the lake's ecology — searching for a variety of alien-like creatures including Anabaena, Cyclotella, and the crowd favorite, Daphnia galeata.

The day closed with presentations from Jamie Brunner, CDA Lake Management Plan Supervisor with the Idaho DEQ, Sharon Bosley, Executive Director of BEIPC, and Rebecca Stephens, Restoration Coordinator with the Coeur d'Alene Tribe Natural Resources Department. Together they laid out the history of the lake – from the Schitsu'umsh (Coeur d’Alene Tribe), whose relationship with these waters predates written record, through the early mining era of the 1880s and decades of environmental harm, to Superfund designation and the restoration efforts continuing today.

Special thanks to the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute (IWRRI) for sponsoring the meal provided by Pow'WaW Food Truck.