Dam length clarified

MAT-SU — A half-mile-long dam could span the Susitna River if a massive state-backed hydroelectric project gets built.

That detail was missing, however, from a preliminary permit application for the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project submitted to federal licensing officials on Oct. 27 by the Alaska Energy Authority.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sent a notice on Wednesday to the state corporation asking for the dam’s length within 30 days. Otherwise, the commission could reject the application.

Emily Ford, the authority’s public outreach liaison, said Wednesday a team was verifying the length and called the notice “a standard request for information.”

Ford provided the potential dam length in an email Thursday: Depending on the type of dam built, the length could range from 2,500 feet to 2,630 feet. The type of dam is expected to be determined “in the near term” based on ongoing feasibility studies, and the numbers could change, she said.

The authority has already estimated the dam’s height at 700 feet. The project, which would be located in a remote area in the Mat-Su Borough about 50 miles northeast of Talkeetna, would create a reservoir up to two miles wide and 39 miles long.