Chugach Electric hearings on Kenai dams

Chugach Electric will have two public meetings in April on the three hydroelectric dams the utility has proposed to build on the Snow River, an important tributary of the Kenai River.

Those public meetings be April 17 at the Lakefront Anchorage Hotel and April 18 at the Moose Pass Community Hall (near the proposed dams), both at 7 p.m.

The Peninsula Rivers Conservancy has been gathering more than 1,400 signatures in the past few weeks in opposition to the project. Co-founder and guide Dave Lisi says the dams would not only destroy Snow River access for hunters, hikers and rafters, but could immeasurably damage the Kenai River’s legendary salmon and trout fisheries. Lisi and fellow guide Brad Kirr say they formed the new organization, despite the lengthy process ahead before a dam could be permitted and built, because Kenai anglers need to know what’s at risk.

For more detail on this project as well as the grass roots movement by Alaska sportsmen to stop it, visit the No Kenai Dam website.

The Alaska Dispatch’s Alex DeMarban provided a good recap in the March 28 newspaper.