Commissioners seek disaster declaration

The Lake County Commissioners joined the Flathead County Commissioners Tuesday in requesting a disaster declaration for both counties.

In a letter addressed to Gov. Greg Gianforte Tuesday, the commissioners note that while Lake County hasn’t been declared to be in a drought, the northwest corner of the state is classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as experiencing moderate to severe drought.

According to the letter, “Due to drought in that area, Energy Keepers the CSKT corporation operating the former Kerr Dam has maintained that the full pool level of Flathead Lake cannot be maintained due to limited in-flows to the lake.”

As the lake level continues to drop, commissioners say, “the revenue loss to local businesses operating marinas, vacation rentals, and other forms of tourist-dependent industries has been significant.

“The continuing drop of the lake level will mean continued losses for area businesses throughout the summer tourist season,” the letter says.

A disaster declaration “would free up lower interest monies for our impacted businesses as they attempt to navigate this difficult time,” write the commissioners.

On Tuesday, the lake level was 2.2 feet below full pool, and due to extraordinarily low stream flows is expected to continue dropping as the summer continues.