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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-11-09 KRSMA Board Packet0{ Id ! ~i ;Special Managemen4 Area "Working together.../or the river" ~ C M~~ ~ i~~'I ~3OL~j ,-~~J ~ .~~.,ti . **Tentative Meeting Agenda** Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board ~~ ~~_ Thursday, November 9, 2006 5:30 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Call B. Approval of 10/12/06 minutes C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC COMMENT A. Kenai River Bridge Update -Matt Coullahan III. NEW BUSINESS A. Introduction of New Board Members -Ken B. Goals for 2006 - 2007 -Jack C. Horsepower Regulation Package and Public Review Document -Jack IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Boat Wake Study Report -Brenda/Jack B. Kenai River Center Update -Pam Russell C. Competitive Recreational Permits Kenai River -Jack D. Guide Advisory Board Update -Joe Connors V. ACTION ITEMS A. Resolution: Support for the funding of the Kenai River Photogrometry Study VI. PUBLIC COMMENT V1I. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting ~~ Kenai Area Offics, Box 1249, Soldotna, AK 9966Q Soldo na 2fi2-5581 ~~ O ~~~ Ker,al f~nlnsula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 252-4441 '}l `(1,~ Alaska Dlvisl0n o! Pa!ks ana Oc~tlOOr Recreetioq DepanmonY at Natural Hesouecas, in cOOperaYon r the Hana/ FYnrnsule 8olougn. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes Thursday, October 12, 2006 5:30 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Call Roll Members present: Joe Connors, Ted Wellman, Richard Dykema, Floyd Heimbuch, Ken Lancaster, Dick Hahn, Pete Sprague, Rick Wood, Keith Korneiis, Jeni Evans, George Pappas For Tom Vania, Jack Sinclair, Tim Stevens Members Absent: Brenda Trefon, Ted Forsi, Robin West, Jeff King B. Approval of 04;14/06 minutes The minutes were approved as written. C. Agenda Changes and Approval Move item A. DEC presentation from new Business to item C. after Mary King. Also add item for nomination of interim Vice Chair since Jeff King's seat has been vacated. This would be until new members are appointed to the vacant seats. Agenda approved as amended. II. PUBLIC COMMENT -see below A. Kenai River Bridge Update-Matt Coullahan Matt reported they are still working on the insufficient cambers on the girders. They are procuring materials for the fix. Once those materials arrive they will be working 7 days per week. They are anticipating opening the new bridge the week of Tisanksgiving. Flans are to remove the temporary bridge by Christmas. Matt said if the weather cooperates they will have the road stripes in before winter steps in. Dick Hahn asked about the undulation he is seeing longitudinally as well as transversely across the bridge. Matt explained there is a slight twist in the girders but the main camber problem is being fixed. When the form work is set in they will work on this from the top down. In those areas there will be angle iron welded into the sides of the girders which was planne3d originally but now will be slightly varying Lengths. This way the bridge deck will be all the same distance. B. 'Mary King- Kenai River Photogrometry Study Mary did a power point presentation on the different aspects of photogrometry. This project has been ongoing since 1998. The Department has put in motion some research to assess the Kenai River watershed using an aerial photogrometry approach. What is photogrometry? It is measuring the landscape using aerial photography. But in order to make accurate measurements then yon need to orthorectify that photography or correct it to scale. Within a photo you can draw polygons around it such as the area of Tern Lake as shown on the pp., or you can have two points on a photo and you can accurately measure the distance between those two points if you have orthorectified photography. The goal of the project was to inventory KR habitat and monitor those habitat changes for the lower 50 miles of the Kenai River. They began this process in 1998 working with AeroMap. Wanted to evaluate the KR in two periods of time: relatively low recreation use and in higher use. For the feasibility study two sections of the river were done. They picked areas that were geologically different. River 16 to 21 was selected because there is some urban development going on, being geologically more susceptible to erosion. They also looked at areas near the Soldotna Ailport. Geological development is less susceptible to erosion because it is a highly armored channel, bouldered, deeply incised, does not move around very much. Doing these two areas checked the technology in different situations. They looked at bank position change in three periods: 1975 to 1985; 1985 to 1998 ;and then 1975 to1998. She showed graphs of the differences in the years. Bank positions were then measured from the different periods. Rates of erosion of 4 to7 feet were shown in each period. On ground there was 15 feet of change In ,,,,..,e specific situations you can determine ca~~se znd effect relationships of what is going on in the river. Another product is a planomeh•ic map looking at percent cover by cover class. hr some cases you could show net gain and net loss but you need to look at the transition as opposed to just the assumption that there will always be a loss. Desk top availabilityof digital orthophotography is another product. The ability of planners, permitters, resource managers to take a map, open it up in ArcView and blow it up as much as you wa11t to look at an area. It gives you an ability to establish a baseline study as well as looking back in time. This tool will be important for future monitoring of the river. It is the hope of the Department photo shoots will be taken on 10 year inteivals. Phase II is river wide assessment. Left to do is to get the 75 and 84 photo sets completed and then do the cover assessments and bank position change assessment. Mary stated they need money, parhlering, funding. It costs about 8350k to complete this project. There is a partner willing to put forward 33 to 50% Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 2 of 10 of that money, but they need other partnering to make that happen. Endorsements by this board would help to get funding sources. Dick: Could you see the effects of the 95 flood? Mary: There were a set of photos coincidentally taken just before the flood and another set intentionally taken after dle flood. Mary said for a price it can be done. III. NEW BUSINESS A. DEC Presentation -Lynn Kent, Director of Water Division. The peer review data collected does show that the lower river exceeds our water quality standards for petroleum during the month of July. The data is clear that the source is boats. It is not storm water, or permitted discharges or other types of sources on the river. She said they are sure they have a petroleum problem that will exist regardless of what kinds of actions we might take on the horsepower issue. DEC said the intent at the September 28`" meeting was to inform the board about the petroleum issue, and not to take apposition on the horsepower issue. Lynn said DEC is staying neutral on that. She said they feel the HP issue is one small factor among many other factors that this board needs to grapple with when considering horsepower change. Lynn asked the question: "What is DEC going to do about the petroleum issue?" The board was supplied with a Letter from DEC dated October ll, 2006 outlining some of the possibilities. The Clean Water Act Section 303(d) requires a formal listing of waters that do not meet the Water Quality Standards (WQS) referred to as "impaired waters". The standards are designed to protect use of the water for drinking, use of water f r contzct recreation such as swimming, use of the water fer agriculture and most importantly to the Kenai River to protect the growth and propagation of aquatic life. The date collected showed we are not meeting those standards for TAH (Total Aqueous Hydrocarbons) in the lower river each July. Every two years DEC develops a report that looks at the health of all of Alaska's waters. The report is called the Integrated Water duality Monitoring and Assessment Report. That report will be issued in draft in flee next month or two for public review. They are likely to formally propose to list the Kenai River as impaired for petroleum in those areas of the lower river where there are exceedanees for the month of July. EPA has review and approval authority over DECs list, so if DEC does not list the lower Kenai River it is likely EPA would. Lynn said the horsepower issue is a factor in how much petroleum gets into the river but there are a host of other that need to be Looked at. They include looking at 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke motors, number of boats, how the boats are used, timing of boat use and even the nature and type of fuel used here in Alaska. She said DEC wants to work with the board, river Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Soard Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 3 of 10 users, the public and resource agencies when those options are considered to come up with some methods on how petroleum can be reduced in the river. DEC expects it to be a long term process. The petroleum problem in the river does noC and should not preclude the board and DNR from considering the horsepower changes at this point in time. There was discussion and questions from the board members for Lynn and other DEC representatives at this time. II. PUBLIC COMMENT John Nelson: Came to share a couple of sentences from a book given to him by Ricky Gease courtesy of KRSI. "King of Fish, The Thousand Year Run of Salmon" The author is David Montgomery, Professor of Geomorphology at University of Washington. His research focuses on landscape evolution including the impact of erosion and sedimentation on biological systems. "Salmon are trapped between human population growth, economic development, degradation of environmental quality and the politics of public policy. The King of Eish once failed rivers across Europe and North America is becoming rare. It is either vanished or disappearing across much of its ancestral range. Though the fate of salmon rests in human hands it is not clear Chat we will be able to save them even if our society wants to. Part of the problem lies in conflict between the inherent uncertainties of the natural sciences and the certainty demanded by policy makers when balancing natural resource protection against economic opportunities. But perhaps the biggest problem lies in the wisdom that individual decisions accumulate into big effects." Phil North: Asked the board members if t hey were familiar with a book called "Salmon 2100". It is about an assessment of the fate of salmon in the southern half of its range which is from the Northern Baja to Vancouver Island. It says basically in the next 100 years you can say goodbye to salmon in that part of the range. The report was done by the EPA Corvalis lab in Oregon State University. EPA here has been talking about doing that same kind ofassessment for the northern range. In order for that to happen the Corvallis lab has to get direction from high up in EPA for money to be allocated for that. If this board is interested in that a little nudging would help. Let Phil know if you want more inforn~ation on where to send inquiries. Dwight Kramer: Asked the board to think about the 2006 compliant issue. If it was passed that all motors become 2006 compliant immediately it would fall hard on mom and pop operations that have 2-cycle engines yet. You would be kicking these people off the river. Now is not the Cime to make it more difficult for private boat owners to be accessing the river. Guide numbers have increased dramatically in the last two years. Last year we had 23 new power boat guides and this 36 new power boat guides. It shocks me Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 4 of 10 that no one is worried about that. As the guide numbers have increased unguided anglers have decreased. Boat counts from F&G show that in the last two years in July guide boats have increased by 11 %, and private boats have decreased by 1 %. In the 90s there was a 50/50 split between guided and non- guided anglers. In the last 5 years it has been a 60/40 split and this year it is a 62/38 split. Private boaters are discouraged because of the increasetn guide numbers and the crowding conditions on the river. It seems Ludicrous talking about incorporating a regulation that makes it where all boats be 2006 compliant, which boots the mom and pop operations off the water. And at the same time entertaining a motion to raise the horsepower to 50 under the guise that pollution is the problem. And yet 50 horsepower will add to the pollution. Seems contradictory. It would be reasonable to look at a 2010 sunset. Bill Gifford: I had an old clunker 35 HP which I participated in the buyback program this year. My fuel consumption has gone down 50%. Being a little more aggressive than 2010 to phase out the motors might be better. If you go to the 50 HP that will have more people participating in the buyback program. When I loak at the guide ::umber increases nearly 20 of the 36 this year were out of state guides. The reason for that was their resources were shut down. Ken Tarbox: It's a fine mess we are in now. I am mad as hell. I have studied this river for 26 years. 1~'ow it's at risk. The three agencies of the state have failed us. F&G have failed us and they have statutory authority to look after the resources. Di~R has special legislation, DEC has statutory authority and what do we have`? A near crisis here and now we will upset the social order of This community to deal with this fuel problem. Because it is not going away with just going to 50 horsepower. I'm upset with the environmental gl-aupg tjiP pOnplP ~x~}:n crn,Pak 4~nr 1~ahitaY an thjc river yv]Ip Say tl7gy Speak fOr habitat but in fact do not. The question I am asking you tonight is, instead of talking about 50 horsepower -which is a miniscule part of the problem of what is going on in this river right now -but what I am asking you to do tonight is pass a resolution supporting the impaired status for this river through DEC and EPA so we can look at it comprehensively. If you look at the data a large p~-t of this problem in the lower river is the personal use fishery. This board has no authority to deal with that, as it is a Board of Fish issue. What we have is three agencies sitting out there unilaterally looking at this river with their own agendas and special interest groups looking at it, and nobody is looking out for the best interest of the river in a comprehensive way. We should all be ashamed of that. Dick Marshall: We are looking at two issues here. Bank erosion and hydrocarbon emissions. The real problem is there are too many big heavy boats. Until we deal with This, we will be putting out more brush fires. NEW BUSLNESS Continued Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 5 of 10 B. Membership-Board Appointment Nominations -Ken Ken said there was a work session with the voting members of the board this afternoon. They went over the many applications and they were ranked. The list will be forwarded by Jack Sinclair to the Commissioner who will make the appointments by the next meeting. A motion was made and seconded to approve the List be~ sent to the Commissioner. No objections and no further discussion. C. Public Comment Discussion from 9!28/06 -Ken Jack summarized the comments from the public meeting on the 28°i. There were 64 online submitted comments and as well as emails and hand delivered. Of those 64, 45 of those were for the 50 horsepower and other recormnendations of the board. 19 were against. We had 26 public comments from the meeting on the 28`h. Those minutes are also available. D. Goals for 2006 - 2007 Jack This agenda item was tabled until the next meeting. E. Regulation Process-Jack The Division of Parks will be putting together not just the regulation proposal from this board but others from different areas of the state as well. When the regulation package comes to the board there will also be other regulations that will not pertain to the Kenai River. The deadline for submission. of new cr revised regulations is ^etcber 31si ~r the ;enai Area. If there are other concerns in any of our Park Regulations Jack encouraged the board members to let him laiow. F. Derby and Park Use Permits/ Events -Jack Jack gave the board members a handout from the KRCMP onderbies. Some of the events that were going on the river this past summer were questioned at the last meeting. Would those have been considered derbies. A derby is defined under a gaming regulation - a tournament that has certain monetary issues involved. The KRCMP has addressed the management of derbies. Group use events made by large corporate groups such as the Kenai River Classic are not termed a derby. Jack asked for the boards' guidance addressing fllese large group use permits. He pointed out that under the State Park Fee system the application fee is $50. However, the fee can be adjusted according to the degree of management needed. There should be certain special stipulations because of the timing of events, and how they might conflict with general public use. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 6 of 10 Specifically Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays to a certain extent as well. Some of the guidelines being considered are to have the Large events moved to days which are slower on the river. Jack would like to have more discussion on this before going forward. It could be some restoration of some sort or some way to give back to the river either educationaIly or through some conservation. No action needed tonight but Jack would like to work more on this issue. Joe Connors: We have a mechanism to deal with this. Look at the document of May 2, 2006 when we created the guide advisory board, item number five - commeroial use issues - is one of the areas where This body would get involved. I think they could work with the department in making a recommendation. Ken: Said the entire board should decide on these issues. All should be treated fairly. Jack said he would have draft stipulations to the board before the next meeting. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Boat wake study report-Jack Nothing new to report. When the Boat Wake Study is out, the primary sponsors - DNR, Kenai River Watershed Forum, Kenaitze Indian Tribe -will take several days to review it prior to its release. This is to prepare the sponsors to answer any questions the public or others may have. It should be $vaiiabie iTivmeiuarlly. Ted said he wanted to be sure the board members would get a copy prior to the next meeting, so They can come prepared with their comments. It needs to be delivered expeditiously to the board. B. Kenai River Center Updaie, Pam Russell Pam said they are working on the conditional use permit at River Quest. Inspections are being done. The newest issue now is the spreading of herbicides by the railroad along the river. Pam and jack went to a meeting on that in Anchorage yesterday. It is open for agency and public comments and they will be making comments on that. The estimate is they would be crossing over 200 anadramous streams in the state using three kinds of herbicides. C. Cooper Landing By-Pass update -Pam Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 7 of 10 Pam provided the board members with an update of the Sterling Highway MP 45-60 Project. They are down to three alternatives; Cooper Creek, Juneau Creek, and G South. D. Guide Advisory Board Applicants -Joe Conners The Kenai River Guide Advisory Board will consist of nine positions: two will be selected by ADF&G and DNR; two will be Kenai River. Guides, Greg Brush and Cliff Chamberlin; two from the Kenai River Guide Association, Mark Glassmaker and Monte Roberts; one from a large business/rental boat business, George Heim; and a citizen at large filled by Gary Turner; and Joe Connors representing this board. Joe asked for approval of the above. The motion was made and seconded. V, ACTION ITEMS A. Appointment of interim Vice Chair Rick Wood nominated Ted Wellman. Ted said on an interim basis he would be willing. Motion made and seconded. Dick Dykema nominated Joe Connors. Motion made and seconded. Joe asked to be withdrawn in favor of Ted. Ken asked if there were any objections to Ted being Vice Chair? There were none. Ted will serve as interim Vice Chair. B. Reconsideration Vote to have all outboards on fhe used in the KRSMA be 06 compliant- Joe Conners Joe said Ted Wellman has a proposal. Ted made the motion to form a committee as a whole to deal with this DEC issue witkregard to the petroleum contamination. He said it is a very important issue and does not want to see it thrown by the wayside. We need to start urgently working on alternatives to deal with the hydrocarbon levels. Joe seconded that motion. Rick asked if this committee will evaluate what DEC come sup with on the hydrocarbons. Ted clarified that we have azz issue we are confronted with. The standards are not being met. There are certain measures that can be done to get us into compliance of the water quality standards. Ted said it is his intention that this committee work on alternatives and options and come up with a recommendation on how this hydrocarbon issue can be resolved. Joe added there should be a timetable for solving the problems. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 32, 2006 Page 8 of 10 Ted formalized his motion to read: Ted moves that there should be a committee as a whole to deal with the issue ofnon-compliance and the hydrocarbon issue, with the committee specifically tasked to evaluate alternatives to meet compliance and establishing a recommended timetable. The board members had discussion and then the motion was voted on. Voting members unanimously passed the motion. Rick Wood then asked where are we on the previous motion from the previous meeting for supporting the 50 horsepower and not making it a 2006 compliance? Keith Kornelis said he understands that this committee as a whole will discuss. It takes the original motion from the last meeting and says that instead of having that, the committee will come up with some type of solution. Ken said that Deputy Ed Fogels asked the board to reaffirm the letter of 3une 12`" fo the Cornrnissioner in regards to the 50 horsepower issue in asking DNR to go forward. Joe made the motion that all motors meet the 2006 EPA compliance by 2008 giving a two year phase-in. The motion was seconded. There was much discussion about what the letter to the Commissioner should include. The motion was voted on by the voting members with only one member voting against. `di. r^:JTLiC C^vl~l"~iENT Mike Crawford: Who is doing the Boat Wake Study and why are they reinventing the wheel. Navy and Coast Guard has done this type of study many years ago. They would laiow these figures. They go by the weight of the boat, the speed of the boat. Ted responded that it is not simple. There are no studies on boats of this size until this boat wake study. This is breaking new ground on tape river. Mike also asked if 40 horsepower been looked at as plan B? Ken Tarbox: To summarize my understanding of what this board has done: you indicated that there is no data that fuel levels will be reduced in the river by going to 50 horsepower. There is no data that erosion will be decreased by any significant amount by going to 50 horsepower. There is no data that safety will be improved. And you will ask and industry and a group of people to invest thousands of dollars to change when in six months from now you may have to say you made a mistake. I don't see how that is responsible. I do not agree with your decision. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 9 of 10 VII. ADJOliRNMENT A. Board Comments Rick welcomed the new members. Tim thanked the board for allowing DEC to make their presentation tonight. B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting November 9, 2006 at 530 pm Kenai Rives Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -October 12, 2006 Page 10 of 10