Kenai Watershed Forum asks Kenai City Council to restore $5,000 annual contribution for river monitoring

Benjamin Meyer, environmental scientist and water-quality coordinator for the Kenai Watershed Forum, asked the Kenai City Council to restore the city’s annual contribution to the forum’s Kenai River Baseline Water Quality Monitoring Project to $5,000 — the level the city provided from 2011 through 2023. The forum’s current local contribution from the City of Kenai is $1,500, Meyer told the council during scheduled public comment.

Meyer said the forum has 10 of the 16 signers it is seeking on a memorandum of understanding and is asking the City of Kenai to resume the $5,000 annual contribution to form the baseline operating budget for the monitoring effort. He showed a short video describing the program, said a comprehensive report assessing the monitoring results is due within the next year, and explained that the group treats the monitoring as a twice-yearly “health checkup” for the river.

Why it matters: The forum’s monitoring is positioned as a cooperative, multi-party effort that can prompt follow-up by state agencies if sampling identifies a credible pollution concern. Meyer said the project’s data have in the past prompted follow-up monitoring by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and private consultants to replicate and investigate findings.

Funding and partners: Meyer described the project budget as a baseline formed from expected annual partner contributions. He said the Alaska Department of Natural Resources provides $3,000 annually to support laboratory expenses and that some work has been supported by a Federal Bureau of Reclamation grant. The forum’s recent video was supported by a ConocoPhillips Alaska community grant and produced by Martin Media. Meyer said the forum’s Anchorage contract laboratory, SGS Laboratories, provided a 15% in-kind discount that will save the project roughly $2,500 annually.

Staffing and operations: Meyer said the Watershed Forum has five full-time employees. Typical sampling events involve two forum staff and about 15–17 total volunteers or partner staff contributing roughly half a day to field work. He said the forum is reviewing its sampling design as part of the comprehensive report and may shift effort away from measures that show little year-to-year variation to save budget.

Questions from council: Council members asked about duplicate monitoring by state agencies, laboratory services, and whether local wastewater lab capacity could be used. Meyer said DEC staff participate by providing in-kind labor and that DEC would conduct follow-up monitoring if community data suggested a legitimate concern. He confirmed the Soldotna wastewater lab had been providing in-kind analysis of total coliform and total suspended solids and that he had confirmed the lab’s state certification. Meyer said he planned to contact the Kenai wastewater treatment plant manager to discuss possible lab services.

Council action and next steps: Councilmembers did not take a formal funding vote at the meeting. Meyer noted the forum’s projected revenue gap scenario (about $18,200 for 2025 in the packet without external funding) but said some staff-time analysis costs will be covered this year by existing support. City staff told the presenters that budget and grant requests are typically reviewed through the city’s upcoming budget work session and grant-review process. The council’s budget work session was later scheduled for May 3 at 9 a.m.

Ending: Meyer thanked the council and said the forum would continue outreach to secure additional grant and partner support. He also offered to provide more details or answer questions as the council considers funding during budget and grants review.