My name is Larry Werner, age 75, born and raised in Seward, now living in Anchorage. My father Jack served as a territorial Senator in Juneau in the early fifties, was very active in the Statehood movement, and helped craft our State Constitution.

Our family has owned property on Lower Trail Lake for over 60 years, before the Great Earthquake

in 1964. I can safely say that I have an intimate knowledge of this particular area.

Grant Creek is well known for several things, sport fishing for trout, a long established salmon spawning stream, and that it offers hydro potential. But because salmon do in fact spawn here, any previous hydro developers have exercised restraint and left Grant Creek untouched for all these years.

Until now. An entity of Homer Electric Association has obtained approval, and preliminary construction of a 5MW hydro project is underway.

We are absolutely opposed to this project, and frankly are stunned that Borough and State fish and game officials would sign off on this project.

So let's take a closer look.

Grant Lake and Grant Creek near Moose Pass on the Kenai Peninsula.

The Narrows between Upper & Lower Trail Lakes-1 mile south of Moose Pass. Grant Creek flows into the Narrows. The railroad, Seward Highway, and power lines are visible on the left side of this picture, and Grant Creek barely visible in the lower right. The distance across this valley, from the power line on the hillside to Grant Lake is a little more than a mile.

What is amazing about this photo is what you can't see. Nature's Alaska Legacy, migrating salmon numbering in the thousands, returning to their place of origin. The link below will take you to a

fascinating article about wild salmon and their evolutionary history by The Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/library/pdfs/ak_wild_salmon.pdf

"Throughout their complex life cycle, salmon must have sufficient amounts of unpolluted water and undisturbed habitat to survive."

To reach here the fish have traveled 120 brutal miles from Cook Inlet, up the Kenai River, thru Kenai Lake, up into Trail River and into Lower Trail Lake. Going around both sides of the island, they enter the Narrows. Many make a right turn and return home to Grant Creek, while others keep heading further north to their spawning areas up stream.

Pacific salmon have been around for millions of years. The current salmon species have been migrating thru these same waters, shown in the above photos, every single summer, for ten thousand years or more, long before Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Egypt. Alaskan's are very proud to acknowledge and protect old buildings, road, trails, often bestowing upon them an official, protective, historical status. They should do the same with every salmon rearing habitat.

But now, this summer, not one, but two substantial construction projects could have the potential to seriously compromise the migrating salmon, and negatively impact other wildlife in the immediate area. Both projects are in very close proximity to this crucial Narrows area.

Project 1: significant highway construction, straightening and widening of the existing road which will require lots of blasting, located about 900 feet from the Narrows.

A large portion of The Wolf Trail Lodge property, a short distance away along the highway, has been deemed necessary for this road project. This property is home to a red salmon spawning stream which attracts both brown and black bears and is in the direct path of the proposed road. Moving the proposed highway further to the west would help alleviate some to the pressure this salmon rearing stream will face.

Project 2: a 5MW hydro electric project on Grant Creek being built by a entity of Homer Electric Association. The developers have secured a staging area for the project adjacent to the railroad and highway and the Narrows.

Plans call for building a substantial bridge over the Narrows to the mouth of Grant Creek, then building an access road directly on the bank of Grant Creek, a well known salmon spawning stream. A 3,300 foot long diversion tunnel will be blasted from Grant Lake to exit somewhere downstream where the 5MW generator will be situated.

In short, this entire mile wide section of this valley will be under robust construction with blasting and loud noise from heavy equipment going on at each end, and continuing for quite some time.

Take another look at the Narrows photo. This valley is a natural transit corridor. Especially on the east side. Animals traversing thru this area tend to do so on the right side of the photo to avoid the railroad and busy highway on the other side. This is where hydro tunnel blasting will be taking place.

Again, from the ADF&G

"Wild salmon need pristine fresh water for spawning and rearing, and access to clean oceans, rich with a broad variety of food."

This hydro project should be stopped. The danger to the salmon rearing stream and environment is too great. Building a bridge across the narrows and then an access road directly on the bank of Grant Creek is extremely dangerous for the environment. Is there any consideration for the Eagles? There are, or were, two nests in this area, one being on the bank

of the river where this road access road is proposed. This is a well known historical eagle habitat. Even the eagles know about the salmon in Grant Creek.

In an opinion piece for the March 22, 2023 issue of the Seward Journal titled, The Sale of Seward Electric: What's in it for HEA?, Brad Janorschke of HEA writes: "HEA has already invested in its generation assets and other technologies and does not need to to make any additional investments to serve Seward customers."

So, is this expensive 5MW project really needed? What is the justification for building this hydro project on a precious salmon stream, other than having hydro potential?

No matter what you might hear in the media, there is no overwhelming need for more power generating assets in southcentral Alaska. That's according to a 2015 comprehensive study completed for the Alaska Regulatory Commission. The study revealed that since 2015, Alaska Railbelt power producers have invested 1.5 billion in new power generation assets. The RCA suggests that the focus of any future investing should be directed to rehabilitating the existing power grid infrastructure and implementing uniform standards to facilitate the sharing of power between all producers to take full advantage of the 1.5 billion investments. The main goal being to unify the power grid.

As the Homer CEO also stated in the above noted opinion piece: "We are stronger when we combine our resources." But that statement doesn't seem to reflect the reality. The power producers have been unable to come to an agreement to effectively combine their resources, as these links will suggest.

https://alaskarenewableenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/RCAReccomendations6-30-15.pdf

Railbelt utilities sign historic agreement

Are there early signs of a Pandora's Box forming for the fish and environment on the east side of the peninsula? Here are some clues to support that conclusion.

1. HEA declares in 2021 an ambitious goal to source half of all its power from renewables by 2025.

2. Spring 2023, HEA entity begins preliminary construction on Grant Lake Hydro project and implies the above goal as justification for for the project.

3. HEA in May 2023 attempts to purchase the Seward Power Utility from the City of Seward and fails in an extremely close vote by the citizens. The power line from Seward to the substation at Dave's Creek was part of the attempted purchase.

4. HEA in previous years has also scouted for other potential hydro sites in the area similar

to Grant Lake, & Grant Creek, such as:

Ptarmigan Lake and Ptarmigan Creek

Crescent Lake and Crescent Creek

Falls Creek

HEA has previously indicated that although they looked at the above possible hydro sites,

they decided to pursue only the Grant Lake Project. But that changed when they declared their 50% sourced power from renewables goal.

5. Please note the Seward Power Line runs in close proximity to all of these potential hydro sites.

One could conclude from the above facts that the Grant Lake hydro project could serve as a template for many other potential hydro projects on the east side of the peninsula and the Seward Area.

Instead of one hydro project on one salmon stream, we could be looking at many such projects in the future, on many salmon streams, the Pandora's Box.

With this 50% goal in mind I'm sure HEA has their eye on potential hydro sites in the Seward area as well. Think of Lowell Canyon, Mt Marathon, Lost Lake, etc.

The above might explain HEA's intense interest in Seward's Electrical Utility.

The Grant Lake hydro project must be stopped now.

These migrating salmon have called Grant Creek home for thousands of years. Do we want to risk that for a 5MW hydro project and the prospect of many more streams coming under attack?

It makes clear economic and environmental sense to terminate this hydro project and use the funding to expand the Bradley Lake Hydro Facility 28 miles from Homer so that all

South Central Alaskans could benefit Bradley's cheap hydro power.

Please note that I am pro hydro, but as a life long Alaskan I strongly oppose development on salmon rearing streams.