Tristan Reasor used his shovel like a pickax Tuesday, hacking holes in the rocky embankment above Fernan Lake’s shoreline. Service berry, mock orange and other hardy shrubs went into the holes. As they take root, the native plants will become the front line for keeping phosphorus out of the 381-acre lake. The lake east of Coeur d’Alene is a popular destination for boaters and anglers, but it has frequent water quality problems, including prolonged toxic blue-green algae outbreaks that shut down swimming at the lake. Reasor, a college intern, and others spent the morning planting shrubs for erosion control along the lake’s eastern shore. The project is a cooperative effort among Kootenai Environmental Alliance, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and North Idaho College. The embankment gets heavy foot traffic from anglers, which speeds up erosion.

“Bare soil is full of phosphorus,” said Adrienne Cronebaugh, KEA’s executive director. As the soil erodes into the lake, the phosphorus creates the conditions for blue-green algae to thrive. With 90-degree weather in the forecast for the weekend, “I would expect to start seeing the blooms in the next few weeks,” she said. Last year was a particularly bad one for blue-green algae outbreaks, which resemble scum on the water. At Fernan Lake, health advisories to avoid contact with the water started in late June and weren’t lifted until December. Other Inland Northwest lakes also experienced outbreaks/Becky Kramer, SR.