Thanks to all for a great regional lake conference

by BiJay Adams

The 12th annual Eastern Washington/North Idaho Regional Lake Conference, with presentations around the theme of Lake and Watershed Management at the Local Level, was held February 9th at Spokane Community College. Dennis DeMattia from Deer Lake Property Owners Association welcomed attendees at the event’s kickoff, noting that regional lake conferences have been instrumental in providing his group access to lake management experts who have helped implement management and protection decisions at Deer Lake. Jacob McCann from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) then gave an overview of DNR’s aquatic lands program. His presentation included information on what defines state-owned aquatic lands, the Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan, and DNR’s Aquatic Lands Use Authorization. Following Jacob were Dave Kluttz, Jenifer Parsons, and Tom Woolf with a series of presentations on invasive riparian plants, native and non-native plant identification, and invasive animals. The afternoon concluded with a presentation about Diamond Lake’s volunteer-run Clean Boats Clean Waters program and some excellent research on oxygenation and thermocline modeling by Washington State University and University of Idaho scientists. Beyond the formal program, networking opportunities allowed representatives from lake associations, scientific, environmental, recreational, governmental, and other communities to discuss water management issues relevant to everyone. With 130 people attending, the conference was a big success, but it was the generous support of our sponsors, listed below, that made it possible. The 13th annual Regional Lake Conference is already scheduled for February 8, 2014, again at Spokane Community College. Watch Waterline for more information or contact BiJay Adams at bijay@libertylake.org with questions. Thanks to everyone who made the 12th annual Eastern Washington/ North Idaho Regional Lake Conference a great success!

Thanks to the event sponsors, who included:

Advanced Eco-Solutions Inc. Aquatechnex Avista Utilities Clean Lakes, Inc. Cygnet Enterprises Deer Lake Property Owners Association Diamond Lake Improvement Association Eloika Lake Association Hach Hydromet Hauser Lake Watershed Coalition Hayden Lake Recreational Water and Sewer District Inland Empire Paper Company Inland Water Pest Control and Consulting Lakeland Restoration Loon Lake Land Conservancy Loon Lake Property Owners Association Newman Lake Flood Control Zone District Sacheen Lake Association Spokane Conservation District Spokane County Utilities Spokane Tribe Water and Fish Program Tetra Tech The Lands Council Tshimakain Creek Labs Washington State Department of Ecology YSI