Water Protection

The Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust helps secure priority water reservations for fish and safeguards for salmon streams under Alaska law.

Anadromous Waters Catalog

The Anadromous Waters Catalog (AWC), described in Alaska Statute 16.05.871 and Alaska Administrative Code AAC 95.011, provides the most basic legal protection for an Alaska stream or lake containing salmon. Once included in the AWC, a waterbody cannot be disturbed without prior notice to, and a permit from, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. To nominate a waterbody for inclusion in the AWC, it is necessary to survey the stream for the presence of anadromous fish (primarily salmon) and credibly document any observation of juveniles and/or adults.
The Anadromous Waters Catalog is available here.

Fish Surveys in the Headwater Streams of the Nushagak and Kvichak River Drainages, 2008 – 2010

As a result of field work between 2003 and 2007 by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and fieldwork by the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust and partners between 2008 and 2014 an additional 4621 miles of salmon streams were documented (red) and added to the Anadromous Waters Catalog, an increase of 50% from documented steaams in 2002 (orange).

The fieldwork conducted between 2003 and 2014 confirms that most watersheds in Bristol Bay are accessible and suitable for salmon

Reservations of Water for Fish

Hydrologic gauge on the Stuyahok River 2010. All data was collected for the Stuyahok River and the application for an instream flow reservation on the river is pending before the Alaska Department of Natural Resources

Another strategy to protect salmon pursued by the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust is to take advantage of instream flow reservations provided for in Alaska law (AS 46.15.145). These reservations permit government agencies, private individuals, and organizations to secure legally enforceable rights to keep water in rivers and lakes for fish. Reservations are designated by lake, river reach, or stream reach. These reservations are expensive to secure because hydrologic gauge sites are generally remote and only accessible by helicopter or boat. A gauge site can cost upwards of $100,000 per year to maintain. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources administers the instream flow program and generally requires a minimum of five years of flow data collection before a reservation can be approved. The Land Trust has secured donation and grant funds to support many of the pending reservations in Southwest Alaska. Since 2008 the following instream flow reservations have been initiated by partners: