Healthy Hayden Creek

The event, titled “Healthy Hayden Creek,” marks the culmination of a year-long collaboration between the Hayden Lake Watershed Association (HLWA), the Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement District (HLWID), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Idaho Dept of Environmental Quality (IDEQ).

The collaboration will result in the recycling rather than the disposal of the large cedar float-logs – full of bolts and nails from abandoned docks - that become navigational hazards across Hayden Lake each year. Traditionally, the HLWID removes and disposes of the logs as part of their annual debris removal program. For the first time, these float logs will be repurposed in a reclamation project. They will serve as protective barriers against erosion and vehicular damage for the seedlings planted during the May 3rd Healthy Hayden Creek event.

The event is the brainchild of Geoff Harvey, the President Emeritus of the Hayden Lake Watershed Association, and Lake Manager Todd Walker. They envisioned the unique recycling program as a pilot project that other lakes and waterways could adopt. The two approached the DEQ to secure a Clean Water Act Section 319 Grant to help defray the costs of excavation, soil preparation and log placement. The grant was approved in Fall 2024.

Hydrologist Chris Robinson worked on behalf of the third collaborator, the United States Forest Service. Robinson worked with the Hayden Lake Watershed Association to obtain necessary permits and identify the planting area. The district management at USFS recognized the importance of Hayden Creek for the lake’s overall health and joined the project to help mitigate the effects of both soil erosion and sedimentation. The seedlings for the planting event were sourced from the USFS’s Coeur d’Alene Nursery.

“We’re hoping this event becomes a pilot program that will work with the forest service to help re-vegetate and reclaim areas that flow into waterways, both here and elsewhere in the forest and across the county,” says Harvey. “This is an opportunity to engage with our community – our friends and neighbors, kids and adults - to enhance the quality of water flowing into Hayden Lake and to learn why this work is so important to the environment we all share.”

“We are so pleased to bring so many partners together for the health of the watershed,” says Harvey. “We all benefit from a healthy Hayden Lake.”