Alaska governor issues historic decision returning water to most of Eklutna River

Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday issued a decision that would restore water to most of the Eklutna River, a major step in a long-running and sometimes divisive effort led by Southcentral Alaska utilities to mitigate the harms of a Cold War-era dam.

The decision seems aimed at striking a balance, providing at least a partial win for the utilities without closing off the approach sought by the Municipality of Anchorage and the Eklutna tribal government.

It will return water to all but a single mile of the 12-mile river, providing new potential habitat for four species of salmon and other wildlife.

The decision supports a $57 million plan proposed by Southcentral Alaska power companies that rely on the power created by the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project and earthen dam at Eklutna Lake. Under the plan, water could begin to flow in the dry riverbed as early as 2027, they have said.

But the governor’s decision also keeps the door open for a different plan that proponents say could return water to the full length of the river. That plan was supported by the Native Village of Eklutna and the Municipality of Anchorage.

Anchorage Assembly Chair Christopher Constant said it appears there is a path forward for full river restoration.

“I’m cautiously optimistic. It sounds like (Dunleavy) heard us,” Constant said in an interview.

[The governor’s 33-page decision document is available here.]

The decision will allow the study of their preferred approach, known as pumped-storage hydropower. Such systems generate power by moving water from different waterbodies at different elevations, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The municipality has said that the plan could restore water to all 12 miles, providing habitat for five species of salmon, including sockeye salmon that typically rear in lakes.

The Eklutna tribal government had argued that it lost a valuable fishing and cultural resource when the river was dammed long ago for hydropower use, without the village’s input. It had sought full restoration of the river in part to provide habitat for sockeye salmon, in addition to other salmon such as kings and silvers.

The tribe and the city had argued that the loss of sockeye in the river was the problem that led to the 1991 agreement.

Aaron Leggett, president of the Eklutna tribal government, said getting more water down the river is critical.

“I think it’s positive,” Leggett said of the decision. “I think it’s not everything we were hoping for, but I think it’s definitely more than we thought we might get, if that makes sense.”

“I feel like what the governor has done is actually a fair compromise, and that he clearly saw some of our concerns, and has worked our concerns into moving forward,” Leggett said. “In other words, the door hasn’t been shut behind us, so to speak.”

In a joint prepared statement, the Chugach Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association said “the proposed final program represents a significant milestone in balancing our communities’ needs for reliable, affordable, and clean year-round energy with the enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat in the Eklutna River.”

The utilities say the plan was developed after five years of study and $8 million. It calls for employing a portal valve about one mile downstream of the Eklutna Dam to divert water from the pipe owned by the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility.

The pipe provides most of Anchorage’s drinking water, delivering it from Eklutna Lake.

The utilities have said the portal-valve plan will allow them to implement fish and wildlife protections while protecting the city’s water supply and continuing to provide low-cost renewable energy to Southcentral Alaska.

“While additional evaluation is underway, we remain focused on moving forward with the core elements of the program, which include the construction of the Eklutna River Release Facility, establishing year-round instream flows, and ongoing habitat improvements based on real-time monitoring,” the utilities said in the statement. “The approved provisions for protecting Anchorage’s municipal water supply remain a top priority, alongside our goal of enhancing fish habitat.”

The governor’s decision was required in a 1991 agreement. It called for the owners of the hydropower project, now the Chugach and Matanuska electric associations and the city’s Anchorage Hydropower Utility, to present the governor with a program reducing the environmental harms of the hydropower system.

The hydropower system was built by the federal government in 1955, but was later sold to the electric associations, and the city’s power company at the time.

It provides the cheapest electricity in Southcentral Alaska and 6% of power used in the region. But the dam dries up most of the river.

The 1991 agreement required the governor to reconcile differences between parties to the agreement, and balance eight factors before selecting the final fish and wildlife program.

Those factors included economical power production, enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, and protecting recreational opportunities and city water supplies.

“The Final Fish and Wildlife Program established today under the agreement balances the eight factors I am required to consider, and the program is designed to be an iterative one that will be able to adapt to changing conditions and technologies well before the process is required to repeat itself,” Dunleavy said in a prepared statement. “I want to thank the parties, the Native Village of Eklutna, and the members of the public who helped shape this Final Program with their time, resources, input, and participation over the past five years. This is not the end of the process, and I am committed to seeing this Final Program successfully enacted.”

Other aspects of the plan include:

• The project owners will provide $234,000 for lakeside trail repairs addressing past erosion.

• The owners will construct eight bridges for the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility to allow access to water pipeline infrastructure.

• The creation of a Monitoring and Adaptive Management Committee that, among other actions, will develop a plan to monitor habitat conditions and fish use in the river.