ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
Officials in the Mat-Su Borough have come up with a plan to combat erosion problems caused by the Matanuska River. Weeks of rain have helped the fast-moving water eat away at the land many Sutton homes sit on.The Mat-Su Borough hired an Anchorage-based consultant, Missal LLC, to develop a draft management plan for the Matanuska River. The river stretches through four Valley communities: Sutton, Palmer, Chickaloon and Butte.
Community members, along with borough, state and federal entities worked together to develop the management plan. Its purpose is to identify problem areas along the river and to attempt to secure more funding to battle erosion, as well as relocate residents affected by the river in the future.
Borough officials say the plan is a key tool that will help them figure out what future steps to take.
“The issue is, we're not going to stop the river -- and what we have to learn to do is live and work and play near the river, and not be washed away with it,” said Mat-Su Borough Assembly member Lynne Woods.
<phoner: frankie barker / environmental planner, mat-su borough –
“This will give us a course of action to move forward to address a variety of different issues, and to do it in a combined manner with the work of several agencies and communities, so that we can hold this up and say, ‘This is what the community has agreed upon,’” said borough environmental planner Frankie Barker.
At 6:30 p.m. Monday, the Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission will look at the draft plan and commissioners will hear public testimony. It will make a recommendation to the borough Assembly, which will ultimately decide whether to adopt the river management plan.
Contact Lori Tipton at ltipton@ktuu.com
