Project Summary

1. Project Identification

Name	Kenai River Resource Protection and Education
Region	Alaska
State	AK
Location
Date of this update

2. Problem(s) addressed (check one or more)

Habitat Restoration/Protection
Wetlands
River systems
Beaches/Dunes
Offshore areas
Mangroves
Assisting Species at Risk
Pollution Mitigation
Non-Point Source Pollution
Other (describe)

3. Project Description (100 words or less. Please include qualitative information, e.g. acres of habitat restored, miles of steam reopened to migration, and legislative authorization, e.g. WRDA, ISTEA, CWA/NEP, CZMA, etc.)

Located 75 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula, the Kenai River drains more than 2,000 square miles of diverse landscape. The river is also the state's premier chinook salmon and trout stream, and provides important rearing and spawning habitat for other extremely valuable fish species. The area is experiencing rapid development and increased pressure from recreational groups. These pressures have resulted in the loss of high-value aquatic and wetland habitats; specifically, the river banks of the Kenai and other south central Alaska streams and rivers have been degraded by boat wakes and the foot traffic of fishermen into and out of the river. Additionally, important rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids has been lost. Residential and commercial development has also led to the filling of adjacent wetlands and the bulkheading of shorelines.

This restoration project has been designed to demonstrate a number of techniques for preventing erosion and damage from the development that has occurred along 80 miles of the river. Project implementation comes after nearly 12 years of biological surveys, the formulation of goals and objectives, and the development of plans specific to the project site. Project features include a combination of streambank restoration, protection structures and an educational program. The streambank features include a vegetated cribwall, revegetation of denuded areas with grasses and willows, and an elevated, light penetrating boardwalk that keeps fishermen off the vegetation and leads to stairwells that provide less damaging access to the river. The educational aspects include a poster to explain groundwater activity and an interpretive program at local grade schools, high schools and the community college to teach children and young adults of the importance of protecting and managing wetland and riverine habitat and groundwater quality. Additionally, education of local land owners is being provided to help them include proven bioengineering techniques into any future residential and/or commercial construction activities.

Construction was initiated in the Spring of 1994. The vegetated cribwall was completed, but only part of the elevated boardwalk and only one set of stairs to get fishermen over the bioengineered banks and into the river was in place at the end of the first construction season. Most of the cribwall and live plantings held up well during the summer high water event in 1994, but some erosion occurred on the downstream portion of the project.

Several meetings of the principal partners, including the FWS, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the City of Soldotna, and the project designer, were held to decide what needed to be done to complete the work and how it was to be funded. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the City of Soldotna have now agreed to complete the project in 1995.

4. Goals/Benefits (quantify where possible using measures of success list) Was a cost-benefit study conducted for this project? yes/no If yes, provide a summary of findings.

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5. Partners (include each participant's responsibilities - funding, permitting, etc.)

• Federal

  Lead:	DOI
  Others:	EPA
  	COE
  	NRCS

• Non-Federal

  State government
  Local government
  Private industry
  Public interest groups
  Educational Facility
  Other partnerships

6. Funding/Contributions (organization and amount)

• Cash

  Federal		$145,000
  Non Federal	State government	$135,000
  	Local government
  	Private industry
  	Public interest groups
  Total		$280,000

• In-Kind Services (hours, equipment, or other forms of assistance and estimated dollar value)

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• Volunteers (number of people and hours, and estimated dollar value)

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7. Legislative authorities used by each participant

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8. Value added by Coastal America Partnership including Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals achieved through this collaboration (500 words or less)

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9. Project Status

Initiation date
Completion date
Current stage

10. Contacts

• Project Manager

  Gary Sonnevil
  Project Leader
  FWS, Kenai Fishery Resource Office
  PO Box 1670
  Kenai, AK 99611-1670
  (907)262-9863 fax-7145
  e-mail: r7kfa@mail.fws.gov

• Participating Agency/Organization Contacts: (e.g. volunteer groups, conservation groups, state agencies, and other federal agency contacts)

11. Any additional information/comments

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This page was last updated on Saturday, 24-Jun-2000 11:48:46 EDT
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comments to lawrencea@fas.usda.gov