Anchorage Assembly takes up Eklutna water deals without RCA condition

The Anchorage Assembly takes up an ordinance Tuesday that would let the city's water and hydropower utilities sign three Eklutna Lake agreements without a condition that can no longer be met, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration says. The administration recommends approval. The ordinance is up for introduction, with a public hearing set for Oct. 20. Eklutna Lake supplies about 90 percent of Anchorage's public water.

The Assembly approved the agreements 12-0 on Dec. 16, 2025, with a condition from members Erin Baldwin Day and Zac Johnson. Chugach Electric Association and Matanuska Electric Association first had to commit in writing to support, before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, the city hydropower utility's "efforts to regain its vote on the Eklutna Hydroelectric Project on a per capita basis," with the three owners "each holding one equal vote." They did not. The case is now on appeal to the Alaska Superior Court. The mayor's memo says that leaves the condition "impossible to fulfill."

The three agreements, the Water Facilities Interconnection Agreement, the Long-Term Water Transportation Agreement and the Public Water Supply Agreement, would replace a 1984 agreement governing the Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility's lake access. They would let the project owners use utility infrastructure under the Eklutna Fish and Wildlife Program. The water supply agreement gives the utility the option to obtain priority water rights at the lake in 2055. The city, the project's majority owner under the ordinance, now holds those rights along with Chugach and MEA.

The 1984 agreement was originally set to expire at the end of 2025. It was extended in May to Oct. 1, 2027, or earlier, keeping in place a $1.2 million annual payment to the project owners, including the city's hydropower utility, to offset generation lost to Anchorage's water withdrawals.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy set the final program Oct. 2, 2024. He directed the parties and the Native Village of Eklutna to study pumped storage hydropower as an alternative. If that option is chosen, the agreements would not take effect. If "pumped storage hydropower is not selected, and the Final Fish and Wildlife" program proceeds to make use of AWWU's infrastructure, the memo says these are good terms for the municipality.

The ordinance deletes one interconnection agreement provision and states the Assembly does not waive rights under the 1991 Fish and Wildlife Agreement.

The city holds an open house on the study Oct. 28 at Beach Lake Chalet in Chugiak, with a virtual option.