State lends $2 million for Camp Fire Inland Northwest water upgrades

Camp Fire Inland Northwest’s boat-only Camp Sweyolakan is getting a $2 million water-system overhaul meant to keep drinking water reliable for campers, staff and the summer programs that serve children on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality announced the low-interest construction loan June 4 for the Kootenai County project. The work will replace and rebuild the camp’s core utility pieces, including a new pump station, backup generator, SCADA system, pressure-reducing valves, flow meter, booster station and booster pump. It also will fund reservoir rehabilitation and replacement of outdated electrical, piping and water-main infrastructure.

For Camp Sweyolakan, the practical payoff is straightforward: a more dependable water system for a campus that sits on 300 acres of forest and can only be reached by boat. Camp Fire says the site serves youth in grades 1 through 12, and the broader organization says it reaches more than 2,000 children each year across 18 counties in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

The project has been in motion for years. Camp Fire’s 2020 annual report said the organization was already designing an upgrade to the Camp Sweyolakan drinking-water system and moving through Kootenai County permitting. That same report said an anonymous donor had pledged $1 million to create an endowment for maintenance and facility needs at the camp. A 2022 water facility plan for Camp Sweyolakan shows the upgrade effort continued well before this week’s loan announcement.

State officials said the loan comes from the agency’s State Revolving Loan Fund, which is used to help build drinking-water and wastewater systems. The loan carries 2.75 percent simple interest over 20 years, terms DEQ said will save the community $708,543 compared with average municipal general obligation debt issuances.

Camp Fire Inland Northwest, established in 1914, has repeatedly had to update aging camp infrastructure at Sweyolakan, including pumps, sewer lines, electrical systems and piping in earlier reports. That history helps explain why this project is not just a routine repair, but a long-planned attempt to keep a remote camp functioning safely and consistently.

The result should be visible in less dramatic ways than a ribbon-cutting: steadier water pressure, better backup power if equipment fails, and fewer interruptions at a camp where access itself depends on the lake. For Kootenai County, the state loan is buying a quieter kind of public safety, the kind that shows up only when the taps keep running.