The Lehigh River as one of the best trout-fishing destinations in the East? A 40-mile-long ribbon of gorgeous big water with wild trout to rival Montana's fabled Madison and Bighorn rivers?

The same Lehigh that gave birth to America's Industrial Revolution, that filled with acid mine drainage and waste from the country's second-largest tannery? The same Lehigh that's known primarily for its whitewater rafting?

Snort if you want to, but big players are lining up behind the vision of the Lehigh in northeastern Pennsylvania becoming a Mecca that will thrill trout anglers and enrich local economies.

"This is an incredible opportunity," Bob Bachman, of Denver, the newest Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commissioner wrote me.

"The bugs are there, the water is there, the trout are there. All that is needed is to release the water properly, and bingo, a big-time wild trout tailwater right here — close enough that you and I could go there on a day trip instead of the (upper) Delaware or the Bighorn."

The only impediment to such a blue-ribbon trout water, Bachman and many others are convinced, is the Francis E. Walter Reservoir in Luzerne County.

The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers near White Haven in the 1950s strictly for flood control, when the river was pretty much dead and before it was known dams could become Gods in determining successful fisheries and whitewater thrills.

Bachman calls the impoundment a giant solar collector, its shallow depths releasing heated water that actually cools the river downstream, sending trout during the summer months scurrying for the mouths of cooler feeder streams to survive.

If the reservoir was allowed to fill more — it has never come close to filling even in the worst floods — and a new port was built higher in the water-release tower, warmer water could be let out of the dam when it needs to be.

"This is not rocket science," says Bachman, who as head of Maryland's state Fisheries Service in the 1980s masterminded the transformation of the North Branch of the Potomac River, once deader than the Lehigh, into a notable trout fishery.

On the Lehigh, colder water at the bottom of the reservoir could be saved for release during summer months, keeping as much as 40 miles downstream ripe for trout, which need temps of 68 or below.

It's as simple as that, says Dean Druckenmiller, president of the Lehigh Coldwater Fishery Alliance, a coalition of sportsmen's groups, anglers and others that has shepherded plans for the Lehigh restoration.

 The group successfully convinced the PFBC, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. Last month, Congress approved a $350,000, two-year study to determine how to store and release cold water from Francis E. Walter Reservoir.

The state DCNR, which this yeasr named the Lehigh its "River of the Year" in Pennsylvania, will pay for half the study and the PFBC will provide in-kind services.

The study, mainly involving computer modeling, has already begun.

The possibility of higher reservoir levels opened up three years ago when an access road for emergency vehicles was built across the dam. Before, reservoir levels had to be minimized to allow access across the dry riverbed.

Druckenmiller, who lives in Robesonia, Berks County, can hardly wait. An avid fly fisherman who prefers big trout water with a variety of features, fell in love with the Lehigh after a trip in the mid-1990s.

When he's not working as an environmental geologist, he's often guiding on the Lehigh for the outfitter business he co-owns, Fly Fish Pennsylvania (www.flyfishpa.net).

 "If we can get that cold water I think the river can sustain itself for many miles downstream," he says. Specifically, he thinks trout will thrive from the tailwater of the reservoir, through the remote Lehigh Gorge and all the way to Walnutport, Northampton County.

"The fish would hold over much better, the trout would be obviously happier and when trout are happier, they reproduce. With all the high-quality tributaries, there would be all kinds of spawning habitat. They would definitely thrive, I don't think there's any doubt about it," Druckenmiller says.

Except for the gorge, which requires floating or walking or biking on a rail-trail, the Lehigh is bordered by a variety of public lands and would be readily accessible for both wading and floating anglers.

No one knows at this point how much it would cost to make the physical changes at the reservoir to accommodate cold-water flows. Druckenmiller says he has heard estimates in the $50 million to $100 million range.

It's a price tag neither he nor Bachman blanch at and they don't think state officials will either.

The Trout Unlimited group uses a general rule that every mile of high-quality trout water pumps $1 million into the local economy each year.

"I think they would get back their return in a few years," Druckenmiller says.

Nor does he see opposition forthcoming from the river's whitewater industry. More water stored in the reservoir would mean more releases during summer months when whitewater enthusiasts need it most, he reasons.

With all the ingredients there, just add water.

Will it happen? "I'm very optimistic," says Druckenmiller. "If I was a betting man, I think I'd put a lot of money on this horse."