10/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/03/2024 14:49
Today Governor Mike Dunleavy established the Final Eklutna Fish and Wildlife Program which will restore year-round water flows to 11 of the 12 miles of the Eklutna River and creates a framework for adaptive management.
The Governor is required by a 1991 agreement to establish a final Fish and Wildlife Program for the protection, mitigation of damages to, and enhancement of fish and wildlife affected by the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project. The Agreement mandates that the Governor give equal consideration to eight factors and seek to reconcile differences between the various parties subject to the Agreement.
The Final Program includes, among other things:
The Final Approved Program accepted a request by the Municipality of Anchorage and Native Village of Eklutna to include the study of the Pumped Storage Hydro alternative.
The Final Program also accepted a request by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to specify that any remaining funds from the $10 million designated for a Fixed Wheel Gate at the Eklutna Dam be made available for additional studies or measures that protect, mitigate damage to, or enhance fish and wildlife habitat if the Fixed Wheel Gate is determined to not be structurally or economically feasible.
"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," said Governor Mike Dunleavy. "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."