Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund
Statement of Work
I.
Project Title: Matanuska-Susitna Borough Fish Passage Restoration
II.
Project Number: 44720
III.
Principal Investigator
Gillian O’Doherty, Habitat Biologist III
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Sport Fish Division (SF)/RTS
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, AK 99518
Phone (907) 267-2146
Email: gillian.odoherty@alaska.gov
PCSRF Objective: HP&R
Co-Principal Investigators
Jim Jensen, Acting O&M Division Manager
Department of Public Works
Operations and Maintenance
Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB)
350 Dahlia Ave.
Palmer, AK 99645
Phone: (907) 745-9817
Email: james.jenson@matsugov.us
Bill Rice, PE, Habitat Restoration Branch Chief
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
605 W. 4th Ave., Ste. G-61
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: (907) 271-1798
Email: william_rice@fws.gov
IV.
Project Period: 4/1/13 – 11/30/15
V.
Project Description
1. Synopsis
This project will address ten fish passage barriers identified and prioritized by ADF&G
during a 2009 comprehensive assessment of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB). The
projects include four red-rated barriers that block the most upstream salmon habitat on
MSB-owned roads, one failing culvert that is delivering sediment into a salmon spawning
stream, and all of the red-rated barriers on Oil Well Road. In total, the project will restore
or improve fish passage to 50.057 km of stream habitat, including 28.621 km of
catalogued anadromous habitat and 393 ha of lake habitat, for the benefit of Chinook,
coho, and sockeye salmon.
2. Introduction
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Juvenile anadromous fish, such as Chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon, spend up to three
years in fresh water during which they must move up and downstream or between
watersheds to access favorable habitat. Improperly installed culverts and other fish
passage barriers reduce or eliminate access to these preferred habitats, particularly for
juvenile, small, and weak swimming fish.
The MSB is one the most populous and rapidly growing areas of Alaska; one
consequence of such growth has been the rapid construction of local road networks. The
salmon and trout produced in MSB streams support commercial, sport, and recreational
fishing industries and contribute in excess of several hundred million dollars to the
Southcentral Alaska economy.
ADF&G identified and assessed over 580 road stream crossing sites for fish passage
throughout the MSB between 2009 and 2011 under AKSSF project 45878, Mat-Su Basin
Fish Passage Inventory. The resulting data was used to select the sites included in this
project. Priority was given to sites that open large amounts of upstream habitat; are on
systems that support Chinook salmon or are on tributaries to documented Chinook
salmon streams; and that open entire watersheds. Ten crossings were selected for
replacement based on these criteria and available funds.
In 2012, in an effort to improve fish passage on MSB-owned roads, the MSB Assembly
approved $500,000 for stream crossing replacement projects. This project will combine
MSB, AKSSF, and other funds to improve fish passage in five priority systems: Goose
Creek, Meadow Creek, Montana Creek, Willow Creek, and Moose/Kroto creeks.
This project is a partnership between the MSB, USFWS, and ADF&G. The USFWS and
ADF&G will review and approve designs; the MSB will oversee construction and
contract for the engineering, project management, and construction; and ADF&G will
provide post-project monitoring, collect and disseminate information on the projects to
the public via the ADF&G Fish Resource Monitor website at
http://gis.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FlexMaps/fishresourcemonitor.html, and conduct public
information workshops. Survey and design work will begin in 2013 as well as
construction for projects that have designs previously funded by USFWS. Construction
on the remaining projects will begin in 2014 and 2015.
3. Locations
Site: Cameo Road and Goose Creek (ADFG #20501173)
Latitude: 61.42235 N
Longitude: 149.91904 W
Site: Willow Creek Parkway and Shirley Lake, a tributary to Willow Creek
(ADFG #20501238)
Latitude: 61.75812 N
Longitude: 150.10677 W
Site: Montana Creek Road and Buddy Creek, a tributary to Montana Creek
(ADFG #20501471)
Latitude: 62.13629 N
Longitude: 149.9403 W
Site: Sawyer’s Shady Road and Buddy Creek, a tributary to Montana Creek
(ADFG #20501526)
Latitude: 62.14034 N
Longitude: 149.9866 W
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Site: Crystal Lake Road and Long Lake to Rainbow Lake, tributary to Willow Creek.
(ADFG #20501182)
Latitude: 61.70733 N
Longitude: 150.0852 W
Site: Oil Well Road and Moose Creek Tributary #1 (ADFG #20501403)
Latitude: 62.28352 N
Longitude: 150.42371 W
Site: Oil Well Road and Moose Creek Tributary #2 (ADFG #20501404)
Latitude: 62.23786 N
Longitude: 150.43933 W
Site: Oil Well Road and Moose Creek Tributary #3 (ADFG #20501473)
Latitude: 62.18156 N
Longitude: 150.51703 W
Site: Oil Well Road and Kroto Creek Tributary (ADFG #20501472)
Latitude: 62.10631 N
Longitude: 150.52565 W
Site: Beaver Lake Road and Meadow Creek (ADFG #20501435)
Latitude: 61.56269 N
Longitude: 149.82533 W
4. AKSSF Objective
1B-2
VI.
Objectives
1. Project Objectives
Restore unimpeded fish passage to 50.057 km of stream habitat, including 28.621 km of
catalogued anadromous habitat and 393 ha of lake habitat, by replacing ten documented
fish passage barriers with stream simulation crossings
2. Methods
At each of the selected sites, detailed engineering drawings and a contractor work
plan will be developed and reviewed by the MSB, USFWS, and ADF&G. Upon
approval of the engineering design, all permit applications necessary for project
implementation will be submitted for review and approval by the MSB. Concurrently,
a request for project bids and quotations will be developed from which a contractor
will be hired by the MSB. The contractor will remove the existing culvert, install the
stream simulation design developed to achieve the identified objective, and complete
stream bank stabilization work, if needed. ADF&G and USFWS will carry out site
visits during construction and post-project monitoring to ensure compliance to the
original design plan and document fish utilization of the new culvert.
All culvert designs will be stream simulation, a method of constructing crossings that
mimics natural channel dimensions and processes through the culverted reach in
order to maintain similar passage conditions to those in the adjacent channel. These
crossings are also more stable and less prone to bank scour, channel incision, or
sediment accretion at a rate greater than the rest of the channel. Additionally, stream
simulation culverts are widely accepted both in Alaska and elsewhere as the preferred
method in constructing small road stream culvert crossings for aquatic organism
passage. A variety of guidelines for stream simulation type crossings have been
produced in recent years; this project will largely follow the guidelines within the
U.S. Forest Service stream simulation publication “An ecological approach to
providing passage for aquatic organisms at road-stream crossings” (2008). This
approach is based on selecting an appropriate reference reach and basing the design
on specific measurements taken there.
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To the extent practical, the final designs will conform to the following guidelines:
 Size: The diameter of the culvert will be at least 20% greater than the stream’s
natural ordinary high water (OHW) width. For narrow channels with wide
floodplains, additional overflow culverts are considered.
 Gradient: The culvert gradient will be within 1% of the natural stream gradient.
 Embeddedness: Culverts will be embedded no less than 20% below the naturally
projected bed scour depth and no more than 40% of the diameter of the pipe.
 Substrate: Culverts will be back-filled with the same size and size fraction of
sediment as the naturally occurring stream sediment but be dynamically stable up
to the 50-year flood event.
 Low Flow Channel: Care should be given to mimic stream conditions during low
flow conditions such that the low flow channel within the culvert has similar depth
and velocity to the natural stream. Often this requires utilizing substrate to mimic
the stream bank lines within the culverts.
 Capacity: The culverts will pass a 100-year storm flow at less than 100% of the
culvert’s height. This allows for passage of other watershed products (large wood,
debris, and substrate) during extremely high flows.
 Channel: Stable stream banks upstream and downstream of the crossing will be
maintained or constructed to prevent scour and sedimentation.
This project will seek designs that are predicted not to fail when subjected to natural
perturbations, primarily floods. Therefore success will also be measured by the ability
of the structure to transport and replace sediment during a 100-year flood event.
Embedded culverts will have a minimum of 20% of the barrel diameter placed below
the natural stream gradient and be dynamically stable up to the 50-year flood event to
allow sediment to be mobilized and replaced during 100-year flood events. This
ensures that if the in-pipe substrate is flushed out, it will be replaced with upstream
sediment flushed in.
After construction, ADF&G will survey the sites using its standard criteria for
assessing juvenile passage at stream crossings. The criteria for a stream simulation
type crossing are based on the hydrologic characteristics of the stream through the
road prism being consistent with the natural stream conditions in adjacent reaches.
ADF&G bases the classification primarily on the following three criteria used to rank
the crossings for passage:
(1) Slope: Channel slope through the crossing should be +/- 1% of natural stream
gradient
(2) Perch: No perch (or fall at culvert outlet)
(3) Constriction: At ordinary high water there should be no constriction of the
stream channel by the crossing
ADF&G will post all post-construction monitoring data on the Fish Resource Monitor
website along with information on the design and construction of the replacement
project to aid other practitioners. This includes design drawings and other project
specific information.
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VII.
Benefits
This project will enhance salmonid habitat in the MSB by restoring free and clear
movement of juvenile salmonids at ten road crossings. Restoring unimpeded fish passage
will increase the availability of productive upstream habitats (including wetlands) to
rearing juveniles. In addition, sizing the culverts to pass debris and sediment as well as
water during 100-year flood events will greatly reduce the likelihood of catastrophic road
failures introducing large volumes of sediment into streams.
VIII. Products, Milestones, and Timelines
 May 2013 – December 2013: Carry out survey work on first subset of culverts; select
project engineering consultant; prepare engineering plans, drawings, and contractor
bid package
 April 2013 – March 2014: Initiate permit reviews and coordinate project review (right
of way, permitting, maintenance, and engineering)
 May – December 2014: Begin construction of first set of culverts and carry out
survey and design work on remaining culverts
 August 1 – September 30, 2014: Carry out post construction surveys on 2014 projects
 April 2013 – March 2015: Conduct project permit reviews and coordinate project
review for second year of construction
 May – September 2015: Complete construction
 August 1 – September 30, 2015: Carry out post construction surveys on 2015 projects
 October 1, 2015 – November 2015: Complete post construction monitoring, update
the Fish Resource Monitor website, and post information on design and construction
on the ADF&G website
 December 2015: Provide final report to AKSSF
IX.
Budget
Summary
100 Personnel
200 Travel
300 Contractual
400 Supplies
500 Equipment
Subtotal
600 Indirect
Total
Total
$13,200
$2,340
$1,080,000
$0
$0
$1,095,540
$2,176
$1,097,716
This project funds the following entities:
 ADF&G: $17,716
 MSB: $1,080,000
ADF&G Budget
ADF&G
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100 Personnel
200 Travel
300 Contractual
400 Supplies
500 Equipment
Subtotal
600 Indirect @ 14%
Total
$13,200
$2,340
$0
$0
$0
$15,540
$2,176
$17,716
ADF&G Budget Narrative:
Line 100: Personnel ($13,200)
Mark Eisenman, SF Habitat Biologist I, will conduct post project monitoring and update
the ADF&G website: 2 months @ $6,600 = $13,200
Line 200: Travel ($2,340)
Project oversight: $500 lodging (4 nights @ $125/night) + $480 per diem (8 days @
$60/day) = $980
Post project monitoring: $500 lodging (2 nights @ $125/night x 2 people) + $360 per
diem (3 days @ $60/day x 2 people) = $860
Transportation to sites (fuel): $500
Line 600: indirect ($2,176)
ADF&G’s federally negotiated indirect rate through June 30, 2013 is 14.41% excluding
equipment and pass-through funds; however, indirect will be recovered at a reduced rate
of 14% for this project.
MSB Budget
MSB
100 Personnel
200 Travel
300 Contractual
400 Supplies
500 Equipment
Total
Total
$0
$0
$1,080,000
$0
$0
$1,080,000
7/9/14: Informal revision to MSB budget
MSB will shift approximately $10,000 from Line 300 Contractual to Line 200 Travel to
pay the per diem costs of a (separately funded) Borough employee to travel to and from
the project construction site for the performance of onsite inspections.
MSB Budget Narrative:
Line 300: Contractual ($1,080,000)
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Survey, design, and engineering:
ADFG #
Culvert
20501403 Moose Creek Tributary Red 1
20501404 Moose Creek Tributary Red 2
20501473 Moose Creek Tributary Red 3
Total
Road
Oil Well Road
Oil Well Road
Oil Well Road
Design and
engineering
$40,000
$40,000
$40,000
$120,000
Construction:
ADFG #
Culvert
20501173 Goose Creek
20501182 Rainbow Lake to Long Lake
20501471 Buddy Creek
20501526
20501435
20501403
20501404
20501473
20501472
Total
IX.
Buddy Creek
Meadow Creek
Moose Creek Tributary Red 1
Moose Creek Tributary Red 2
Moose Creek Tributary Red 3
Kroto Creek Tributary
Road
Cameo Road
Crystal Lake
Road
Katahdin Street
Sawyer's Shady
Street
Beaver Lake Rd
Oil Well Road
Oil Well Road
Oil Well Road
Oil Well Road
Construction
$20,000
$100,000
$50,000
$200,000
$150,000
$80,000
$140,000
$140,000
$80,000
$960,000
Match Budget
MSB Match (35%)
100 Personnel
200 Travel
300 Contractual
400 Supplies
500 Equipment
Total
Total
$0
$0
$384,201
$0
$0
$384,201
MSB Match Budget Narrative:
Line 300: Contractual ($384,201)
Survey, design and engineering:
ADFG #
20501238
Culvert
Road
Willow Creek
Parkway
Shirley Lake Outlet
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Design &
engineering
$50,000
2/8/2016
20501182
20501526
20501472
Total
Rainbow Lake to Long
Lake
Buddy Creek
Kroto Creek Tributary
Construction:
ADFG #
Culvert
20501173
Goose Creek
20501238
Total
Road
Cameo Road
Willow Creek
Parkway
Shirley Lake Outlet
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Crystal Lake Road
Sawyer's Shady
Street
Oil Well Road
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$50,000
$40,000
$24,201
$ 164,201
Construction
$30,000
$190,000
$220,000
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