ECHO LAKE – Ever since Karen Kolar first came to Echo Lake in the eighth grade, she knew she wanted to retire by its peaceful shores. But now those shores are slowly eroding away.
For the second year in a row, Echo Lake has flooded due to high snowpack and locals say the damage will be worse this year because a “no-wake zone,” which restricts the use of boats in the water, was not established. Kolar and her neighbor Dodie Veseth say waves from large motorboats are eroding their land at a faster rate than ever.
“People come here and they treat Echo Lake like a fraternity house,” Kolar said.
In 2011, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks established a no-wake zone at the request of Flathead County because of health concerns over leaks from drain fields and septic tanks. This year a no-wake zone was discussed by the Flathead County Commission and FWP, but ultimately denied because there was no health threat, which meant legally the agencies couldn’t restrict boats on the lake.
Echo Lake residents packed into a standing-room-only public meeting in late June to listen to county commissioners discuss the possibility of a no-wake zone. Commissioners acknowledged they had received a considerable amount of letters and phone calls about Echo Lake.
Montana Code Annotated 2-4-303 states, “an emergency rule may be adopted only in circumstances that truly and clearly constitute an existing imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare that cannot be averted or remedied by any other administrative act.”
The inaction frustrates residents like Kolar and Veseth, who have both lived on the lake for more than 30 years.
“I think everyone out here is just frustrated,” Veseth said. “We’ve got too many boats and too big of boats with too much horsepower. This lake can’t withstand that much abuse. No lake can.”
Veseth’s home was built more than a century ago and sits on a small peninsula jetting into the lake. She said when she purchased the home in 1979 she had never heard of such extreme flooding. But in 1997, 2011 and again this year, large amounts of snowpack and a wet spring led to high water.
“I just hope this isn’t going to be the new norm,” Veseth said.
The water level peaked in early August, but even last week it was still covering the dirt road to Veseth’s house and a retaining wall along what use to be the shore. Last year it wasn’t until Dec. 1 that she could even drive to her house. She was forced to park at her neighbor’s house and walk through the water to her home.
But this year, she said the big problem is the waves, which slowly erode parts of her and her neighbor’s land.
Kolar said she thinks one reason boaters are allowed on the lake unchecked is that 32 Canadian families threatened to sue FWP if a no-wake zone was implemented. That threat was confirmed in a letter from FWP Deputy Director Mike Volesky to Kolar, who had written Gov. Brian Schweitzer about the wake problems. According to Volesky’s letter, the legal threat “did not influence FWP’s position on this issue.”
Meanwhile, Kolar, Veseth and their neighbors are looking for solutions. For some that might mean moving away. Veseth said in moments of frustration, the idea has crossed her mind.
“When you get really frustrated, you think about leaving, but no,” she said. “This is my home… I bought this place to retire in and I’m hoping to make many more memories here.”