Forest that surrounds water supply is concern

Strong winds in the wrong direction could have impacted Libby’s drinking water supply.

During the Parmenter fire this past July, Libby residents watched the blaze creep over the ridge toward area homes before firefighters fought it off. Only a couple of drainages over sits Flower Creek, home to Libby’s sole municipal water source.

A swift response and proper conditions allowed firefighters to get a handle on the fire quickly. However, strong winds could have pushed the fire right toward the city’s reservoirs.

“A catastrophic fire would impact the drinking water of Libby,” said Emily Gillespie, public water official with the Department of Environmental Quality.

Gillespie and 38 other members of the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition voted unanimously at their Sept. 18 meeting to begin a formal proposal to thin the forest near the city’s two reservoirs.

“This proposal is a proactive measure,” Gillespie said.

However, she said it is in the brainstorming mode while data is collected.

Malcolm Edwards, Forest Service district ranger, had a list of priorities set for federal lands surrounding the reservoirs. Priority one is a wind driven crown fire coming out of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness.

Edwards said much of the Forest Service land is overcrowded with firs, lodge pole pines and hemlock.

“A crown fire is very fast moving and hard to fight,” Edwards said. “If we can liberate some of the trees in the area it will decrease the fire potential.”

He added that these measures, if a fire were to start, would hopefully bring the flare-up out of the crowns and onto a more manageable ground fire.

Edwards also said nothing has been proposed in the old growth or roadless areas.

According to Paul Rumelhart, executive director of the Kootenai River Development Council, the proposal encompasses six to eight sections of land. One section is equal to 640 acres.

“We are talking about a lot of property involved,” Rumelhart said, adding that the Forest Service, the city of Libby and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation have land in the area.

“This is a community important project,” Rumelhart said.

Lincoln County forester Ed Levert, who is coordinating the project, said the Flower Creek drainage will be looked at closely this fall but it is crucial due to the proximity of the municipal watershed.

“There is a real danger with fire here because Libby depends on a surface source for its water supply,” Levert said. “We don’t have a system that could handle all the sediment loading.”

He also said there is a risk to many of the transmission lines that run from the reservoirs to the water treatment plant.

Levert met with Edwards and City Supervisor Dan Thede in June to discuss the concern.

Thede said it was a little ironic that a week later the Parmenter fire broke out.

“It showed that there is a real issue here,” he said.

The city has 90 acres surrounding the reservoirs and Thede said the main area of concern lies with the upper reservoir.

“The city is working jointly with the state and feds to make sure this all comes together to remove some timber from the region,” he said.

Thede said the goal is to produce a fire-safe buffer around the reservoirs to safeguard Libby’s sole water source.