What: Slikok
Creek Culvert Replacement
Where: College Loop Road in Soldotna,
AK
Why: Slikok
Creek is a tributary to the Kenai River. It is a nursery
supporting several thousand early run Chinook, Coho and
Sockeye spawning and rearing habitat. The confluence of
Slikok Creek and the Kenai River is located near the Kenai
Peninsula College, approximately 19 river miles upstream
from the mouth at Cook Inlet. The creek begins as the outflow
from Nordic Lake on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
and provides many miles of spawning and rearing habitat
for Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon. This habitat is
classified as essential fish habitat by the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS).
The
creek is a low gradient, meandering creek. The stream
has four road crossings: College Loop Road, Kalifornsky
Beach Road, Sterling Hwy. and A.R.C. Loop Road. These
road crossings were evaluated by the Alaska Department
of Fish and Game (ADF&G) in their 2000 effort to assess passage
of juvenile salmonids. According to the ADF&G study,
three of the four crossings act as barriers to upstream
migrations, the worst being College Loop Road.
In the summer of 2003 and 2004 the Kenai Watershed Forum
(KWF) more closely evaluated each of the three problem
road crossings. It was clear that the College Loop Road
presented the greatest potential to block juvenile anadromous
fish. It is the furthest downstream, thus blocking the
largest amount of habitat. It also created the most obvious
deviation from the natural channel conditions. The crossing
consisted of two culverts, one to pass the channelized
flow through the road prism with a secondary overflow culvert
for flood stage waters. Both culverts were improperly sized
and placed to mimic the natural conditions present in the
stream.
Because
of the importance of this delicate nursery to the health
of the early run Chinook salmon run, we replaced the
improperly sized culvert with a new much large culvert
that properly fits the natural conditions of the stream.
When: June-August 2007
Cost: $300,000+
Who:
| Kenai
Watershed Forum |
U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service |
| City
of Soldotna |
AK
Department of Fish & Game |
| ConocoPhillips |
Kenai
Peninsula Economic Development District |
| Leavens
Foundation |
Cook
Inlet Aquaculture Association |
| Wm.
J. Nelson & Associates |
Peninsula
Construction, Inc. |
| Kenai
Peninsula College |
Kenai
River Center |
| Soldotna
Chamber of Commerce |
|
Status: COMPLETE |
