Kenai adopts MOU with Watershed Forum; forum asks council to restore lab funding to $5,000

The Kenai City Council on a unanimous voice vote adopted a memorandum of understanding with the Kenai Watershed Forum to continue cooperative water-quality monitoring of the Kenai River.

Benjamin Meyer, research coordinator at the Kenai Watershed Forum, told the council the memorandum “is a non binding document” that signals organizations value the monitoring program and lists cooperating partners. Meyer said the program tests bacteria, metals and hydrocarbons at about 22 sites twice each year and that laboratory analysis is the largest recurring cost.

“The cooperative model has worked really well for 24 years,” Meyer said, adding that continuing to pool resources is less expensive than hiring consultants. Trent Dodson, executive director of the Watershed Forum, also addressed the council in support of the MOU.

Why it matters: the monitoring program provides a long-running baseline for the Kenai River. Meyer said the program was created following the 1997 Kenai River Special Management Area Comprehensive Plan and supplies published raw results annually and comprehensive reports every six to eight years that are evaluated against state and federal water-quality standards.

During public comment, Meyer asked the council to restore the city’s lab-analysis contribution to $5,000 a year. He said the city of Kenai provided $5,000 annually from 2010 until spring 2024, when the amount was reduced to $1,500. “The project needs and expenses with this work have not changed,” Meyer said, and he told council the program’s operating costs average between $25,000 and $40,000 per year.

Council members asked how the program’s lab work interfaces with local municipal labs. Meyer said the Soldotna wastewater treatment plant currently provides in-kind lab services to the program, but the city of Kenai’s lab cannot perform the same analyses in a way that preserves continuity with the project’s historical data. He said changing methods to use a different lab would break comparability with prior results.

Council members asked for more budget detail before considering an increase. Council member Douthat suggested the forum present a breakdown of costs and how funds are allocated; Meyer said a spreadsheet and additional materials already linked in the forum’s meeting packet and that staff could provide a summarized memo for the council’s budget deliberations. Councilmember Daniel asked whether the lab reduction to $1,500 was sufficient; Meyer said it was not, and urged restoring the prior level if the city wants a “meaningful stake” in the outcomes.

Action taken: Vice Mayor Nakstead moved to adopt Resolution 2025-17 authorizing renewal of the MOU for the Kenai River Water Quality Monitoring Program; the council adopted the resolution by unanimous consent.

What’s next: council members asked the Watershed Forum to submit a concise memo with a cost breakdown ahead of the city’s budget discussions in May. Forum representatives said they will supply the requested summary and are available to meet with individual council members for more detail.

Evidence: the Watershed Forum speakers described the MOU as nonbinding, traced the program’s origin to the 1997 Kenai River Special Management Area Comprehensive Plan, identified annual lab costs and program operating ranges, and stated the program samples about 22 sites twice per year (spring and July).