KENAI, Alaska (AP) — A heavily trafficked stretch of the Kenai River’s southern bank is getting repaired in time for the sockeye salmon season thanks to a $37,500 grant from the federal government.
The Peninsula Clarion reports the crumbling riverbank behind the Donald E. Gilman River Center in Soldotna has been depositing silt into the water. The erosion can have an impact on salmon, which depend on sufficient bank vegetation and gravel beds in the river for habitat.
The riverbank restoration project was funded by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant and a matching contribution from the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly for a combined total of $75,000.
The borough hopes to finish the work by June 30, before anglers head out for the peak of the sockeye salmon run in July.
