A hydro plant sat on state land five years after its easement expired

A 240-kilowatt hydroelectric plant east of Palmer has occupied state land without authorization to be there since its easement expired in June 2021. It kept generating and kept selling power to Matanuska Electric Association the whole time. The state is now proposing to lease it the ground, for 10 years over 1.61 acres plus a private easement over about six more.

The easement dated to 1991 and was extended once. When it lapsed, the intake, the pipe carrying creek water to the turbine, the powerhouse, the buried transmission line and the access trail all stayed where they were. The Division of Mining, Land and Water wrote that the equipment "remains on state land without an active authorization," and asked the estate administering the property to file applications in February of this year, four years and eight months after the old one ran out. The decision concerns the right to occupy the land; it does not address water rights or any federal authorization the plant may hold.

The site is classified as wildlife habitat and public recreation land under the state's area plan for the Mat-Su, in country where moose winter and calve. The department concluded the lease fits that classification on the strength of what was not said: Fish and Game "was consulted, and they did not suggest that a permit would be necessary" for the plant.

Fish and Game's habitat staff did ask for something. They want access along the trails to reach McRoberts Creek above the intake and below the powerhouse, "to sample for fish species presence." The land office said the applicant may grant that access for the 2027 sampling season, a year after the lease would take effect. McRoberts Creek is in the state's catalog of salmon waters, and sockeye and coho use the drainage below the plant. The stretch the plant diverts sits above the documented salmon reach, and the water returns at the powerhouse.

Rent would start at a minimum of $1,000 a year. The land office noted that the appraisal it requested in July to set that minimum had not come back by the time it wrote the decision.

Written comments are due Oct. 15, and only people who comment can appeal the outcome. Administration of the lease will not stay with the state for long in any case: the Mat-Su Borough is taking title to the surrounding section, approved by the natural resources commissioner in July, and the lease goes with it.