Commission Staff prepared a final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Kenai Hydro, LLC’s (Kenai Hydro) proposed 5-megawatt (MW) Grant Lake Hydroelectric Project No. 13212-005.
Kenai Hydro filed an application on April 18, 2016 for the project. Kenai Hydro amended its application on January 16, May 23, and August 6, 2018, and a draft EIS was issued on October 19, 2018.
The proposed Grant Lake Project would be located on Grant Lake and Grant Creek, near the community of Moose Pass, in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, and occupy 1,688.7 acres of federal lands within the Chugach National Forest, administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (Forest Service).
The primary issues associated with licensing the project are erosion and sedimentation control; protection of aquatic habitats including stream flows, water temperature and spawning gravel recruitment and movement; recreation use in the proposed project area and potential conflicts with the Iditarod National Historic Trail; and the protection of cultural resources.
In the final EIS, Commission staff recommended the staff alternative, which consists of most measures included in Kenai Hydro’s proposal, as well as many of the mandatory conditions and recommendations made by state and federal agencies, and some additional measures developed by the staff.