Native village proposes new option for restoring Eklutna River

Tribal government leaders told Assembly members that their plan would cost about the same as the utilities' plan, but provide more benefits in the long run.

It would use the utilities' proposed water flow schedule for the first 10 years, even though it isn't enough to provide good fish habitat, they said.

"Putting more water down the river comes with a cost of having to pay for energy, and gas is in high demand and expensive. So we're really trying to offer a balance," said Nelli Williams, Alaska director for Trout Unlimited, which has been working with the village on the issue.

"Let's get at least some water down the stream in the near term" and then figure out a way to get more flows down in the long run, she said.

Aaron Leggett, president of Native Village of Eklutna, said they have presented the plan to the utilities, but have not received indication that the utilities are considering it. The village was not included in the legal agreement that requires the mitigation effort, which was signed between the federal government and the utilities in 1991, and so tribal leaders do not have a say in the final plan.

The Municipality of Anchorage, which currently owns 53% of the hydroelectric project, has not had voting rights within the hydroelectric project's ownership group for several years.

The Assembly earlier this week formally asked the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, which regulates utilities, to reinstate the city's voting power as a majority owner of the hydroelectric project. The RCA on Friday denied the request.

Assembly leaders say the lack of voting rights has essentially left the electric utilities in charge of the plan, despite potential impacts to property taxpayers, utility ratepayers and the city's drinking water.

Assembly Chair Christopher Constant on Friday said he has drafted a measure that would demand the utilities remove the city's water facility from their proposal "because they just don't have a right to do that, no matter what the RCA or their parties might say."

Although the RCA denied the Assembly's request, "all of that is just pre-staging ... to get us to court," Constant said.