Falls Park Is Open Again After Its Snail Problem. Here's What Changed at the Pond

"All they need are some fish in here."

A Spokane mom said that on Wednesday, October 21, while she walked her two kids around the new Falls Park Pond on the park's first day open again. She told the Coeur d'Alene Press that the waterfall and the bridge were "super fun." She was right about the fish, and that small gap says a lot about the new pond. Avista and the City of Post Falls rebuilt the pond from the ground up. What it turns into next depends on the trout that get planted in it and on keeping out the snails that never belonged there. Neither one is controlled from inside the park.

For decades, Falls Park at 305 W. 4th Ave. has been where a lot of Post Falls kids caught their first fish. The Press put it in those words. To see why the pond had to be torn out and rebuilt, start with how the fixes that came before it failed.

Five years from the first snail to the ribbon cutting

Parks crews have been dealing with this since 2021. Here is how it played out, based on reporting in the Coeur d'Alene Press and the City's own project notices:

1. September 2021. Post Falls Parks and Recreation staff start working on two invasive species in the pond: Chinese mystery snails and Eurasian watermilfoil.
2. Spring 2023. The City closes the pond after finding the snails along its banks and bottom. Idaho Fish and Game skips its usual rainbow trout stocking that year.
3. 2024. The pond operates again, and IDFG goes back to stocking triploid rainbow trout.
4. January 2025. Parks director Dave Fair tells the Coeur d'Alene Press "The snails are still there." Staff have pulled out thousands of them, but the population keeps coming back on the banks and the pond bed.
5. June 12, 2025. IDFG's records show its most recent trout stocking at the pond.
6. Winter 2025. Reconstruction begins, according to the City's project sheet, with Fall 2026 as the target finish.
7. October 21, 2026. The park reopens with an 11 a.m. ribbon cutting. The City called it a cooperative effort between Avista and Post Falls Parks and Recreation.

Crews did beat the watermilfoil. The snails were a different story. They breed fast, and removing them one by one never caught up. "We had extensive efforts to do that but the infestation just continued," Avista Communications Officer Kirstin O'Connor Giampietri told the Press at the reopening. Rebuilding the pond became the fallback once nothing else had worked.

What the rebuild added around the water

Avista hired Land Expressions to design and build the project. The City's project sheet listed four pieces of work, and the Press's opening-day coverage adds what visitors saw:

• A rebuilt pond. The City called it a "complete reconstruction." The pond's mechanical systems were also updated, though from the paths that's the part nobody sees.
• A new pedestrian bridge. It crosses the pond, and it got a mention from visitors on day one.
• New paths. They were added to improve circulation, and they connect to new and refurbished trails across the park.
• Fishing spots and more room by the water. The Press described several fishing spots and new, expanded spaces around the pond. It also covered a new waterfall, where a visitor stopped to splash during her afternoon walk.

The Press says Falls Park is now fully open as a 22-acre park. For much of the year it also offers a view of the Spokane River running through the Avista dam. A local mom who brought her daughter to the upgraded playground told the paper her family had been regulars before most of the park closed. She pointed out a hiking trail that runs down to the river bank.

The pond work is separate from the work Avista has been doing on the North Channel Dam. The City's project sheet says the dam project may affect the park in its own ways.

Why a power company rebuilt a city pond

Avista's name is on this project because of the dam next door. In its 2021 Recreation Plan, the utility describes the Spokane River Hydroelectric Project as Avista-owned and licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as Project No. 2545. Article 417 of that license requires a recreation plan for the Post Falls development. Under the management agreement described in the same plan, Post Falls Parks and Recreation runs and maintains Falls Park, and Avista pays $30,000 a year toward operations and maintenance.

So the partnership the City credited at the ribbon cutting was set up long before 2026. The park sits next to the dam, and Avista's federal license includes recreation responsibilities for that stretch of river. The City runs the park day to day. Fixing the pond took both of them.

The fish come from somewhere else

Fish are the piece that isn't back yet. Idaho Fish and Game lists Post Falls Park Pond as a Recommended Fishing Water and a Family Fishing Water. Its listing describes a 0.6-acre pond with a dock and ADA access, where you can fish from a bridge, the shore or platforms. The pond has always depended on stocked fish. According to the Press, it normally gets rainbow trout from April to September.

The pond reopened in late October, weeks after the usual stocking season ended. You can still walk out on the new bridge and fishing platforms this fall. Whether there's anything to catch there will depend on IDFG's planting schedule. IDFG's 2025–2027 rules keep all waters open year-round and list no special rules for this pond. The Panhandle Region daily limit is six trout. Rules and stocking plans change, so check the IDFG fishing planner page before you pack the tackle box. This is general information, not legal advice.

What keeps the new pond clean also comes from outside the park

The snails most likely got into the pond the same way: someone carried them in. Officials believe aquarium owners probably dumped them there, and that is illegal. Idaho Fish and Game rules prohibit releasing aquatic animals into local waters. People keep Chinese mystery snails in home aquariums because they eat algae. IDFG says that in the wild they compete with native snails, can spread diseases and parasites to fish and wildlife, and can clog water intakes. The Press also reported that getting rid of the snails at Falls Park kept them from moving farther upstream.

The reconstruction gave the pond a clean start, not permanent protection. The last problem took five years of work and ended in a rebuild. Unwanted aquarium snails, plants and fish belong nowhere near Falls Park Pond or any other local waterway.

A late-fall walk, then the holiday calendar

With the fences down, Falls Park works as a cold-weather walk again. You can start on the new paths, cross the bridge and take the trail down toward the Spokane River bank. Next door, Avista's Post Falls Landing connects to Falls Park and has public viewpoints of the dam and river. It does not offer river access because of safety concerns around the dam.

The City's next two community events are close by:

• Holiday Craft Fair, Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is the 8th annual fair, held at two sites: Trailhead Event Center, 12361 W. Parkway Drive, and Black Bay Depot, 1211 E. 3rd Avenue. Admission and parking are free.
• Winterfest & Plaza Market, Friday, Dec. 4, 4 to 8 p.m. It takes place at City Hall Campus, 408 N. Spokane St. The City lists a community tree lighting, Santa photos, s'mores and children's crafts.

Black Bay Depot sits in Black Bay Park, which held its own ribbon cutting on July 28 for a new boardwalk and community shelter. That makes two Post Falls riverfront parks with new features this year, and both are good stops on a November afternoon.

Falls Park is the kind of place that makes Post Falls feel like home, from first fish to graduation photos to stroller laps around a brand-new pond. At Dream Homes Idaho, we keep track of what's changing in the parks and on the riverfront in the towns we serve. If you'd like to live within a short walk of a place like Falls Park, we'd be glad to help you find your Idaho dream home.