North Idaho lawmakers and stakeholders push for faster Albany Falls gate repairs and fuller summer lake levels

State Sen. Jim Woodward and Rep. Mark Sauter led a group of local officials, researchers, industry representatives and emergency responders before the Resources & Environment Committee to press for faster repairs to the Albany Falls Dam gates and for operations that would keep Lake Pend Oreille fuller for a longer summer recreational season.

"We really are talking about 2 distinct issues. 1, the repair of the gates at the Albany Falls Dam...And separate from that, the operation of the lake, the water levels in the lake," said State Senator Jim Woodward as he opened the testimony. Woodward and others said timely gate repairs and rule-curve changes are needed to reduce operational limits on the dam and to restore summer pool levels earlier in the year.

Ford Elsasser, chair of the Lakes Commission, told the committee the two-sentence request to federal authorities is straightforward: "These gates can and should be built and replaced on a much quicker time frame" and the federal government should "honor its promise in the legislation that created the Albany Falls Dam to have a full recreational season." Elsasser said the Lakes Commission has support from the governor and…