Kenai Peninsula flooding raises concerns about culverts

KENAI - When last month's flooding washed out sections of Kenai Peninsula roads, many area residents found themselves isolated and stranded - much like juvenile salmon can be cut off from their homes by impassable highway culverts.

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The flooding heightened awareness of a growing concern among some who believe culverts across the state don't adequately protect anadromous fish such as salmon.

That may soon change, as state agencies are beginning to work together to ensure both humans and fish are able to move freely through their respective transportation corridors.

Alaska's departments of Fish and Game and Transportation recently signed a joint memorandum of agreement on how culverts are designed, permitted and constructed statewide. The purpose of the agreement is to ensure fish - especially salmon - are taken into account whenever and wherever culverts are put in place.

The move is needed because some culverts have a harmful impact on the migration of juvenile salmon between feeding and wintering areas. According to Robert Ruffner, executive director of the Kenai Watershed Forum, many culverts need to be replaced or redesigned to address the problem.

"If a culvert prevents a juvenile fish from swimming upstream, it is a significant concern for habitat fragmentation," Ruffner said.

The recent flooding might provide the state with a reason to move forward more quickly to redesign some culverts, which Ruffner said are often too small. An undersized culvert can create water pressure so high salmon cannot pass or become clogged with debris.

Now that several of the problem culverts have been destroyed, the state has an opportunity to re-evaluate how its culverts are designed.

"In the past, they've gone in predominantly to move water beneath the roadway," said Fish and Game habitat biologist Steve Albert. "We want to be able to move fish along with the water."