Does Lake Coeur d'Alene Ever Flood?

I'm answering a common buyer question: if you buy on Lake Coeur d'Alene or the Spokane River, do you need to worry about flooding and flood insurance? I had a great question come up recently, and I thought it would be a perfect topic for this channel where I talk about life and real estate here in North Idaho. If you are buying a property on the Spokane River or on Lake Coeur d'Alene, do you have to worry about it flooding?

Do you need flood insurance? I'm Leslie Simpson, a real estate agent in Coeur d'Alene, and I want to give you an honest, local answer — not a scare story and not a brush-off. How Lake Coeur d'Alene Actually Works First, it helps to understand that Lake Coeur d'Alene is not just a stand-alone lake.

It is part of a much larger river system. Several major rivers — the Coeur d'Alene River, the St. Joe River, and the St. Mary's River — all flow into the lake. From there, water flows out through the Spokane River and the Post Falls Dam.

That inflow and outflow balance is what determines the lake levels. Avista owns and operates a hydroelectric dam in Post Falls, along with four others down the Spokane River. The dam in Post Falls was built in 1906, and it manages the levels of Coeur d'Alene Lake and controls the river flow.

Here's something that surprises a lot of people: Avista does not control the lake level year-round.