Highest Priority Culverts to be Replaced

What's the connection between this
bad culvert, rotting salmon, and anglers?

Answer: This culvert blocked that fish from laying a thousand or more eggs, which hurts our local economy by reducing the number of happy anglers.

Culvert Assessment

A single road crossing with a bad culvert can prevent fish from reaching miles of habitat. Small tributaries provide the path to salmon nurseries. Juvenile salmon, particularly Coho, migrate up streams. Studies have shown that juveniles that successfully migrate up and down small streams survive better in the ocean. It is important to keep these migration routes free of barriers.

Together with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, we have been assessing culverts across the entire Kenai Peninsula. We know of more than 350 roads crossing salmon bearing streams. Half of these have been evaluated and over 70% are problematic for the migration of fish. This translates into several hundred miles of habitat being off limits to fish on the Kenai Peninsula.

What we look for...
In the field we evaluate how high the drop or “perch” is at the outlet. If it is greater than 4-inches, baby fish can’t make it up. If the slope of the culvert is too steep or too narrow, the water flows too fast, also denying fish the ability to make it to their nurseries.