Alex Gimarc: It’s time for battle space preparation as Anchorage Assembly aims to remove Eklutna dam

One of the things those of us with military experience consider before the exchanging unpleasantries with the “other side” is choosing and preparing the location most advantageous to whatever it is we want to do and least advantageous to whatever it is the other side wants to do. This is referred to as battlespace preparation.

The battle this time around is the removal of the Eklutna Dam, something it appears that the Anchorage Assembly fully supports.

Rick Whitbeck has written multiple pieces about what a bad idea this is. Suzanne Downing also has multiple pieces on the festivities.

Today’s issue is AO 2024-46, by Chairman Constant and Vice Chairman Zaletel. This ordinance directs Anchorage Water and Waste Utility to “decouple” the Municipality’s access to drinking water from the 1991 Eklutna Fish and Wildlife Agreement. This decoupling was introduced April 24. The first public hearing was on May 7. Action on it has been postponed four times, most recently to July 30.

The agenda is here.

If you sort through the multiple “Whereas” clauses, you find that Mayor Dave Bronson did a brilliant job obstructing the Assembly’s efforts to remove the dam, most recently neglecting to notify the Assembly of a Regulatory Commission of Alaska order for the Municipality to surrender its vote on the Eklutna Operating Committee. This was done as part of its approval of Chugach Electric’s purchase of Municipal Light & Power, agreed to by the Assembly and the Ethan Berkowitz Administration in 2019. The Assembly claims that the Bronson administration did not inform them until December, 2023.

In Jan 2024, AWWU and the Eklutna Owners (Chugach Electric and Matanuska Electric Association) executed a term sheet governing AWWU’s access to drinking water. The Assembly demanded access to the sheet and eventually saw it during a February 2024 executive session. They were not allowed to retain copies, which irritated them greatly, as shown in the “Whereas” statements. Since then, there has been at least one amendment executed.

The final “w”Whereas” clause claims public funds, water rights, public lands have been encumbered by agreements that the Assembly was never informed of, and has no voice, while the Bronson Administration withheld “critical information.” Note that all of this is direct fallout from the ML&P sale that the Assembly, Mayor and Regulatory Commission of Alaska all approved.

From here, it looks like the Bronson Administration prudently took steps to keep both the lights on in Anchorage and keep drinking water flowing to Anchorage residents (per the AWWU term sheet).

On the other hand, these steps make it more difficult for the newly self-anointed experts in all things electrical and water on the Assembly to remove the Eklutna dam, something they are hell-bent to do.

The Assembly is in something of a tough spot with this, as MEA doesn’t support the dam’s removal. The Chugach Board got a little less likely to support the removal in April. And the RCA, Legislature and governor don’t support removal, though the greens certainly do support removal.

Why is the Assembly so hard-over on removing the dam? I expect the opening bid was obeisance to green dogma. Over the last three years, they included kneejerk opposition to all-things Bronson. Today, I don’t have a publicly stated reason, but if it were me, I would first use the follow the money filter.

We already know that Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel is making a very nice living off the Homeless Industrial Complex she helped build over the last decade, a complex that has wasted tens of to over a hundred million dollars over that period. Given government-to-government relations established between this Assembly and the 72-member Eklutna tribe, one can only wonder what sorts of offline negotiations and promises have been made.

In my view, follow the money is the very first thing to look at.

Passing this ordinance is simply another step toward making it easier to remove the dam. Their problem is that removal will require RCA approval and a compliant governor. Doing something about the RCA will take a while. They think their compliant governor is waiting in the wings when Democrat Forrest Dunbar runs to replace Gov. Dunleavy in 2026.

I am reminded of PJ O’Rourke’s observation: Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. Think of the Assembly and perhaps even newly ensconced Mayor LaFrance as the teenage boys and you won’t be far wrong.

Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.