OUR GEM: Pettit Retires After 30 years of Public Service

Glen Pettit, longtime Water Quality Analyst for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, celebrated his retirement this month after 30 years with DEQ. 

Pettit held several positions at DEQ since starting with the agency in 1994. He is perhaps best known as the boat captain and field work lead for the DEQ Coeur d’Alene Lake Management Program, a role he held since the inception of the program in 2007. Pettit honed his attention to detail and ability to collect high-quality data early in his career and shared those virtues with countless seasonal crews through his role as the Coeur d’Alene Regional Office’s Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program supervisor from 1996-2008. 

Pettit was responsible for the collection of thousands of data points used to guide our understanding of water quality in Lake Coeur d’Alene. His expertise in sample collection and processing has been critical for our Lake Management Program. 

In 2022, a team of national water quality experts with the National Academy of Sciences concluded that “the main features of the long-term monitoring program for the Coeur d’Alene watershed are carried out in a highly professional manner with good sampling protocols and quality assurance/quality control procedures.”

This conclusion was part of a third-party review the NAS conducted of Lake Coeur d’Alene data that had been collected by DEQ and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe over the course of many years. Their review and analyses would not have been possible without the years of dedicated work and the recent data transfer from Pettit and others from DEQ and the Tribe.   

The type of data needed to make good decisions about water quality management begins with hard work and preparation before the crew even goes out into the field and is followed by quality data processing once the fieldwork is complete. The data collected for Lake Coeur d’Alene informs our understanding of important water quality parameters and how we interact with the lake. 

We have been able to measure progress on reducing metals from historic mining practices in the Upper and Lower Coeur d’Alene Basin. We have seen nutrients such as phosphorus impact dissolved oxygen levels and how metals move between sediments and the water column. We have measured changes in phosphorus loading over time and have used that information to prioritize projects to reduce phosphorus loading throughout the watershed. The projects currently being funded by Idaho DEQ and Gov. Brad Little’s Leading Idaho Initiative throughout the watershed are expected to significantly reduce annual phosphorus loading.  

The future Lake Management Program and BURP crews will work to continue Pettit’s legacy of carrying out long-term water quality data collection in a highly professional manner with good sampling protocols and quality assurance/quality control procedures. 

As the Coeur d’Alene Lake Management team tackles the long list of recommendations offered by NAS to improve our efforts, we will continue to incorporate Glen’s spirit of quality and attention to detail. Pettit will forever be respected in the Lake Coeur d’Alene community for his years of service and dedication, and we wish him the very best in his retirement. 

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The Our Gem Coeur d’Alene Lake Collaborative is a team of committed and passionate professionals working to preserve lake health and protect water quality by promoting community awareness of local water resources through education, outreach and stewardship. Our Gem includes local experts from the University of Idaho — Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, Kootenai Environmental Alliance and the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber of Commerce.