Institute keeps watchful eye on Whitefish Lake

Scientists at the Whitefish Lake Institute are always working, but their work isn’t always seen immediately.

“A lake is calm on the surface, but there’s a lot going on underneath,” the institute’s founder and executive director Mike Koopal, says.

Founded 10 years ago, the nonprofit institute has been gathering data on the Whitefish Lake watershed for the past seven years. The staff will release its status report on the watershed some time this year.

“This report gives people the breadth of our science work,” the institute’s science and education director, Lori Curtis, said. “Our education efforts are often visual, but this is the science.”

Koopal said the report “paints a picture for the resource” and provides scientifically-based water quality standards to provide benchmarks for aquatic resources. The institute intends to get public input once the document is released.

“It will identify all the water quality issues in the Whitefish Lake watershed and categorize them into who might be able to address those issues,” Curtis said. “It will give all the resource managers the ability to participate and see what the critical areas are.”

Koopal was a partner at Watershed Consulting about a decade ago when he was approached by Whitefish community members eager to have someone focus on studying Whitefish Lake.

He took up the challenge to create the nonprofit. In those early days, that meant explaining what the institute was about and finding himself in the uncomfortable position of fundraising.

“People recognized that the lake needed a voice,” he said. “It was really important for our community because we have such an intimate relationship with the lake.”

A decade later, Koopal feels the institute is now well established.

“There is a need for the Whitefish Lake Institute from the community,” he said. “Clean water transcends all political boundaries — everyone wants it.”

The institute has worked on projects outside of Whitefish, but moving forward it wants to continue to strengthen its focus.

“Our intention now is to contract to Whitefish Lake,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that there aren’t some outside study projects that aren’t important, but we will focus more on the Whitefish watershed.”

The institute became more visible in 2012 when it released results of a study of septic leachate in Whitefish Lake that raised red flags about potential contamination. The city of Whitefish has since been working to find ways to mitigate the issue. The institute quickly fell into the role of technical facilitator for the city’s wastewater committee.

“We’re currently seeking active partners to sponsor planning grants to conduct preliminary engineering reports for neighborhood areas to further explore potential fixes,” Koopal said.

The institute partners with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Flathead Basin Commission in training citizen scientists for the Northwest Montana Lakes Volunteer Monitoring Network. The institute trains volunteers to monitor 40 lakes in Flathead, Lincoln, Lake and Missoula counties by collecting basic measurements.

The institute has been involved with aquatic invasive species monitoring and has spent two summers working with the city to perform boat inspections at City Beach.

They also own and manage the 28-acre Averill’s Viking Creek Wetland Preserve across from the Lodge At Whitefish Lake on Wisconsin Avenue. In 2013, the institute opened an interpretive nature trail through the wetland with the goal of making it open to the public.

Last fall the institute relocated its offices to downtown Whitefish. Koopal said being more visible in the community can only benefit the institute.

“I want Whitefish Lake Institute to live beyond me,” Koopal said. “Because we need a voice for the lake.”