Matanuska River claims more land

PALMER -- The Matanuska River is an ancient, unpredictable force that has woven lasting impressions in the river basin and in the minds and hearts of those who live and work along its unforgiving banks.

For hundreds of thousands of years the river banks were sparsely populated and for the most part, when they came crashing into the river, few humans were ever affected.

Now, as populations explode in the very valley that the river and her source, the Matanuska Glacier, created, more lives are affected by the river's winding and often overpowering movements.

Mat-Su Public Works Director Don Shiesl continues to work on the river erosion problems but he doesn't see the problem ever going away permanently. "We have data going back since the settlement of this Valley," Shiesl said, "and it will probably be a problem long after we are all gone. The river is going to do what the river is going to do."

Homes and power lines in danger

Most recently the river began tearing into surrounding banks near Circle View subdivision along Bodenburg Loop. As of Friday morning, large cottonwood trees, boulders and a dirt road were crashing into the muddy waters and washing out into Knik Arm. Ever-concerned property owners watched and measured the erosion this week as the river crept closer to their homes.

Ron Thornsley has owned land near the river for more than 30 years and has compiled pages of research about the river. Thornsley said that from July 10 to July 16 the banks had eroded 73 feet near Brian Drive, just off Bodenburg Loop.

Mat-Su Borough Director of Public Safety Dennis Brodigan said the borough closed Brian Drive in Circle View subdivision earlier this week after inspecting the area. "We determined that no populated houses were threatened," Brodigan said. "There is one home under construction but the owners are aware of the situation." Brodigan confirmed that parts of Brian Drive had already washed into the river.

Acting Borough Manager Tammy Clayton said the borough sent a letter to the governor's office asking for federal assistance to combat the erosion threat. Clayton said the Army Corps of Engineers was out Thursday to inspect the erosion and offer possible solutions.

Time is of the essence, however, and as July heat continues melting the Matanuska Glacier, causing the river to swell and consume the banks, the main power line, which sends power across the river into Palmer, was in danger of potentially falling in.

The power lines are located a couple hundred yards from Brian Drive. Matanuska Electric Association officials were out Wednesday to inspect the 150,000-volt main transmission line that brings power to Palmer. The river was less than 100 feet from the power lines on Wednesday and continuing to inch closer.

Deborah Luper, MEA's manager of key accounts, was out inspecting the river this week and said it had claimed roughly 60 feet of bank in 24 hours, from Tuesday to Wednesday. "The power lines have been de-energized because we can't risk them toppling in and having a power outage of that nature," Luper said.

MEA Operations Manager Bob Drake said the de-energized lines are part of a giant power-line loop, which connects many different power substations. Normally Palmer receives power from the Eklutna power station and Anchorage as power travels north through the lines and across the Matanuska River into Palmer. As long as the lines across the Matanuska River remain de-energized, power will have to come from the other side of the loop, but according to Drake, that means there is no backup if something happens to that power route.

If the river continues to eat at the bank with high water levels, Drake said the power poles will likely be lost. "If the river is going to take it, the river is going to take it," he said. "At this point they are too close to the river's edge to save them."

Drake said he would have to wait until the fall when the river recedes in order to fortify or move the existing poles from harm's way, but in the meantime it is possible the poles may go into the river.

If that happens, Drake said power will still come into Palmer from the other side of the river, but if anything happens to that line there may be delays in restoring power. For the time being, MEA plans to leave the pole and the power line in place as a backup as long as they remain standing.

MEA has a history of battling erosion near its power lines. On July 4, 2001, approximately 10,000 Palmer-area homes were left without power for a couple of hours when the Matanuska River eroded the same bluff, below the main transmission line, sending it crashing into the water below.

Battle to maintain eroding dikes

Property owners near the river are just as concerned about their land washing away.

Sam Bough has lived off Bodenburg Loop near the river since 1989 and has seen at least two structures taken by the river. "Two on the corner there went down in the early '90s and one lady had a greenhouse that went in," Bough said.

Bough said the Mat-Su Borough charged him and other property owners near the river $3,500 a few years ago to pay for erosion-control projects, including four finger dikes that were installed in the river in 1992 with the aid of a $500,000 state grant. The dikes are intended to slow down and move water away from the banks and out toward the middle of the river.

So far, Bough isn't happy with the results. "The borough needs to maintain the dikes," he said. "They've attempted to repair them two or three times and every time they wait 'til the water's too high."

In 1998 Richard Jansen purchased a home on Brian Road, only 150 feet from the river's edge. Jansen said the four finger dikes work well when they are maintained but he said he's seen them gradually lose strength and thereby lose their ability to push water away from the bank.

"The four dikes are designed to work in conjunction," Jansen said. "When one breaks down it puts more pressure on the others."

Jansen is also frustrated with the way the dikes have been maintained. "It seems like every year we have to apply pressure to the borough to maintain the dikes. It's a battle every year and every year it's the same scenario."

Shiesl said the borough is doing what it can but at this point funds are totally exhausted. "If work is going to be done it's going to have to be funded by the state or the federal government," he said.

Shiesl said, that earlier this summer, the borough spent $50,000 to $60,000 to partially repair one of the four dikes and install a rock wall along one of the banks further up river, however, the borough was unable to extend the partially repaired dike to its full length. "We ran out of money and we had to quit," he said. To do the job right, and properly maintain the dikes, Shiesl said the borough would need tens of thousands more dollars every year.

Struggling to prepare for the river's next move

Christy Miller coordinates the state Federal Flood Insurance program and she encourages all homeowners along the river to purchase flood insurance. Federal flood insurance does not cover homes lost to consistent gradual erosion, only erosion related to flood-level waters. Even so, Miller said of eight structures she can recall being lost to erosion in recent years, all of them received substantial assistance for flood insurance loss, relocation of structures and other assistance.

Ken Hudson, chief of code compliance for the borough, said proposals to limit the types of developments along the river have been discussed but so far none have been adopted.

Shiesl also mentioned limiting development along certain highly vulnerable areas of the river. "We want to get a study for a 25-, 50- and 100-year erosion cycle along the river and the probability of erosion in certain areas," Shiesl said.

Once such a study is complete, Shiesl said the local, state or federal government would like to buy those vulnerable areas to keep future homes from developing near the river.

Shiesl said the problem with any study of vulnerable areas along the river is that the river is constantly fluctuating and the main channel shifts from one side to the other. Shiesl compared it to a snake. "You can't predict it," he said.

Hudson said the entire city of Palmer sits on ancient deposits from the Mat-Su river. "There's nothing that Palmer sits on that wasn't put here by the river, and at its current velocity it could take back the land, barring human intervention."

Government intervention

In the last month, local, state and federal officials visited the river to assess the erosion issues. "Last month we went out there with a congressional delegation to address this issue with the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee," Hudson said. Other groups and officials that have been out to the river recently include people from Mat-Su Borough Public Works and the Army Corps of Engineers, MEA officials, the acting borough manager, DOT representatives and other state and government officials.

On June 29 the Army Corps of Engineers made a presentation to the U.S. Senate Appropriation Committee in Washington, D.C., describing areas in Alaska that are affected by flooding and erosion. The 77-mile Matanuska River was mentioned as a problem area, in need of funding.

In the meantime, as studies, surveys and measurements continue, the river flows day and night -- sometimes taking only a few pebbles into the water and other times ripping massive portions from the earth. The people who live there can only wait and hope that the money and manpower arrives before the next surge threatens their land and homes.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.