MERRIMAN- The Environmental Protection Agency announced that they would be reviewing a new plan for restoring a Sandhills stream damaged by an authorized deluge of sand three years ago. Over 1.6 million tons of sand and sediment was unleashed when a local rancher, with the help of Cherry County officials, drained a flooded hay meadow into the Snake River, prompting the new flows to erode a large sandhill into the stream.

Last month, Cherry County officials approved a contract with Mainelli Wagner & Associates to halt the flow of water into the Snake River, as well as provide oversight. The three-phase contract calls for spending of $66,900, which is to be shared by the County and the rancher who caused the sand flows. Both the County and the rancher had been cited by the EPA for violating the federal Clean Water Act since they did not obtain permission for the discharge into the waterway.

Cherry County, back in 2021, agreed to provide a plan within 60 days to remediate the damage and restore, as much as they could, the previous flow into the Snake River. The EPA issued a notice of violation, however, after the County failed to comply. This prompted the EPA to hire a contractor "with the expertise" to review a proposed plan to review the damage and determine if it was suitable to fix the ecological disaster. Ben Washburn, a spokesman for the EPA, said the agency and its consultants are still reviewing the plan, but stated that the project will include "complicated hydrological issues," and will therefore take more time to approve.

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