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Committee forwards memorial urging federal action to repair Albany Falls Dam
Summary
The Resources and Conservation Committee voted to send Senate Joint Memorial 105 to the floor after Representative Mark Sauter warned the Albany Falls Dam needs federal repairs to address aging spillway gates and wide lake-level swings.
The Resources and Conservation Committee voted to send Senate Joint Memorial 105 to the floor after Representative Mark Sauter told the committee the Albany Falls Dam requires federal attention to address deteriorating spillway gates and large swings in Lake Pend Oreille’s elevation.
Representative Mark Sauter, R., District 1, told the committee that Albany Falls Dam, built in the 1950s, “holds back the water rights of the state of Idaho, which is Lake Pend Oreille.” He said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not maintained the dam and that the facility’s “spillway gates [are] 20 years past their useful life.” Sauter said the Corps estimated repairs could take “7 to 8 years” even though the dam took four years to build.
Sauter also described ongoing changes in lake level and cited an historical federal commitment he said requires review. “In the founding documents our federal government promised Idaho that we would keep the level of our lake up 6 months out of the year and I don't think it's really been up more than 3 months out of the year,” he said, adding that Lake Pend Oreille now “fluctuates 11 feet.”
On the question of hydroelectric generation, Sauter told the committee the dam is currently producing power and that the Bonneville Power Administration “monitors or administrates that part of it.” He said power production itself is not the central safety concern; rather, the committee should weigh the dam’s ability to manage inflows and protect lake elevations and flood capacity.
Representative Raybould moved to send Senate Joint Memorial 105 to the floor with a “due pass” recommendation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote; the transcript records the ayes and nays but does not record individual vote tallies. Earlier in the meeting the committee also approved minutes from Tuesday, March 25, on a voice vote.
The memorial asks federal authorities and other federal counterparts to review the dam’s condition and the commitments referenced by Sauter and to act to expedite needed repairs. The committee’s action forwards that request to the full legislative body for further consideration.
