Anchorage Assembly commits to returning flowing water & fish passage to the Eklutna River with sweeping support of Resolution

On September 27, the Anchorage Assembly passed resolution 2022 –262 supporting restoration of salmon to the Eklutna River by an 11-1 vote. Assembly Vice Chair Christopher Constant and Assembly Members Kevin Cross, Forrest Dunbar and Austin Quinn-Davidson championed the resolution. It recognizes that restoring the Eklutna River, including allowing salmon passage the length of the river and to and from Eklutna Lake, is important and will benefit the Native Village of Eklutna and Municipality residents. The resolution commits the Anchorage Assembly’s support for providing instream flow and fish passage, and requests that Chugach Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association commit as well.

This news is being celebrated by Native Village of Eklutna, Eklutna Inc., The Conservation Fund, The Alaska Center and Trout Unlimited for demonstrating the Assembly’s strong bi-partisan support for restoring salmon to the Eklutna River. Similar resolutions have been adopted by the Native Village of Eklutna, Eklutna Inc., the Alaska Federation of Natives, and others.

For more than 60 years, the Eklutna Hydropower Project has blocked salmon migration and taken all the water from the Eklutna River, causing eight miles of the river from the outlet of Eklutna Lake to the confluence of Thunderbird Creek to run dry or very low.

“For at least 700 years, Idlyutnu, or By the Two Knobs River, and the 5 species of salmon that returned in significant numbers until 1929 are the reason that my ancestors chose this location and I feel I owe it to them to make sure that fish will once again return in meaningful numbers throughout the entire system,” said Aaron Leggett, President of the Native Village of Eklutna.

Chugach Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association operate the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project which is subject to a 1991 Eklutna Power Purchasers Agreement that requires the utilities to make up for the projects’ impacts to fish and wildlife. Federal and state agencies and the utilities are in the process of identifying what steps may be necessary to make up for the impacts of the project to fish and wildlife. The Assembly’s resolution is the will of the people of Anchorage and sets a clear expectation that some water must be returned to the river and salmon need to be able to swim into and out of Eklutna Lake.

“Ultimately, I do think many of us want the same thing. We want to restore the river in some fashion. We want to do right by the native people of Eklutna who were left out of the 1991 agreement in a way that is frankly shameful, and I appreciate that they have been let back in in a heightened capacity, but not in the legally binding way they should have been in 1991,” said Assembly Member Dunbar.

“The Native Village of Eklutna Tribal Council and Anchorage Assembly have been working collaboratively on Government-to-Government issues over the last couple of years and this resolution is perfect example of the hard work that gone on between these two governments to support each other,” said President Leggett.

Eklutna, Inc. shared their enthusiasm for the adopted resolution as well. Kyle Foster, CEO of Eklutna, Inc. said, “The Shareholders of Eklutna, Inc., are excited and encouraged by Anchorage’s community leader’s efforts to return salmon to the Eklutna River.”

“It is heartwarming, and we feel the respect from the city and the people of Anchorage represented by the majority of the Assembly with this resolution that they just passed,” stated Curtis J. McQueen, the Former CEO Eklutna Inc, an adopted Eklutna Tribal Member, and Board Member for the Rasmuson Foundation. “In 2020, the entire Alaska Federation of Natives, and all Native leaders came together and unanimously passed a resolution in support of having Eklutna Lake water once again being released into the Eklutna River. In just over two weeks, the Alaska Federation of Natives will gather once again in Anchorage for the first time since 2019 and for the Assembly to pass this resolution right before AFN is apropos and really makes a statement.”

“Alaska sets the gold standard for salmon conservation,” said Brad Meiklejohn, Senior Alaska Representative for The Conservation Fund. “The Eklutna River is our chance to show the world how to fix a broken salmon river.”

“It takes vision to heal a fractured river and return salmon to it. And with vision and leadership like the Assembly had in passing the resolution, we can be optimistic that abundant salmon runs one day will return to the Eklutna River,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska Director of Trout Unlimited.

“As the decision on the future of the Eklutna River draws closer, it is all the more important to ensure that water returns directly from the lake, and that fish can return home to Eklutna lake as their ancestors did until 93 years ago,” said Polly Carr, Executive Director at the Alaska Center. “At the Alaska Center, we know that a just transition must include restoring and protecting our salmon streams and a return of stewardship to the communities who rely on them. We are deeply grateful for the assembly acting to support that future and will continue to work with them and other governing agencies to secure that reality.”