Trying to catch a break

SAGLE - A move is afoot to improve the guardian of Lake Pend Oreille's Garfield Bay.

A privately-owned breakwater is continuing to fail despite costly efforts to keep it intact. The breakwater is the scenic bay's first and only line of defense against prevalent - and sometimes punishing - southwest winds.

"The breakwater benefits the whole bay," said Ron Palm, manager of Garfield Shores Resort & Marina Club, which owns and maintains the structure.

In addition to shielding Garfield Shores' 168 boat slips, the decades-old breakwater also protects a modest collection of boathouses and slips at the Captn's Table.

Palm said Garfield Shores spends $50,000 to $70,000 annually on repairing the breakwater, which consists of heavy equipment tires stuffed with buoyant jugs that are lashed together with cable.

But harsh weather conditions on Lake Pend Oreille have caused tires to break free and create navigational hazards for boaters.

The issue prompted the Idaho Department of Lands to condition renewal of a submerged lands lease on the development of long-term breakwater solution.

"It's obviously becoming more of a navigational hazard as time goes on," said Jamie Brunner, a navigable waters specialist for IDL in Sandpoint. "They need to come up with an alternative in the next couple of years."

A lot is riding on the breakwater.

A 2007 storm packing 80-mile-an-hour winds augured into the bay, which caused the breakwater to shift. The exposed edge of Garfield Shores' docks were compressed like an accordion and several boats became trapped.

"If we lose that breakwater and we get a bad storm, we could lose everything on the east side of the bay," said Skip Young, who operates Odie's Bayside Market.

Palm said the breakwater is closely tied to the economic vitality of the bay.

"That breakwater makes all this capable down here," he said.

But a solution won't be easy or cheap.

Stakeholders in the bay may seek a Gem Community grant to design a replacement breakwater, which is estimated to cost no less than $500,000. They are also looking at the feasibility of forming a recreation district.

The formation of a taxing district could recast the breakwater as a public project and make it eligible for state and federal grant money.

"We're trying to look at every angle," Young said.