According to a report by Zaz Hollander, special to The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, the Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project is moving forward, but the effort still lacks a key piece: Land access.
Tyonek Native Corp. owns the land beneath the proposed dam site, and Cook Inlet Regional Corp. or village corporations control surface and subsurface rights to a "fair amount" of land that would be submerged by the reservoir, said Ethan Schutt, CIRI's senior vice president for land and energy development.
CIRI also owns resource areas for sand and gravel needed for the project, as well as routes for power lines and access roads through the lightly traveled area.
"It is an important relationship to work out. That's very clear," Schutt said. "I think the AEA understands that. We certainly hold that view."
"There's access issues that need to be addressed up front - that's a goal of ours," said Alaska Energy Authority (AEA) public outreach liaison Emily Ford. "If those aren't resolved ... there's very little likelihood of having a successful project."
Read much more from the land access report, here, and read Hollander's other Susitna dam report for the Frontiersman, also published Monday, which focuses on the work of groups opposed to the project.