Opinion ID: 1208095
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Fish and wildlife concerns

Text: The Tuluksak River provides important habitat for salmon and is relied upon as a subsistence and commercial fishery. The Tuluksak River system contains one of the major salmon spawning streams in the Kuskokwim River drainage. A loss of salmon production in the Tuluksak River will impact the Village of Tuluksak's subsistence fishery. Additionally, the Tuluksak River is a major contributor to the Kuskokwim River commercial fishery. TNCC argues that DNR did not adequately address TNCC's concerns regarding fish and wildlife. Villagers testified that there are fewer fish in the river than before mining began. Additionally, TNCC submitted Wise's report, stating that fish need at least fifty percent of the stream flow to have excellent fish habitat. TNCC also expresses its concern that stream segments may become dewatered when the return point of recycled water is downstream from the appropriation point, thereby significantly depleting fish spawning and rearing habitats and preventing passage of fish upstream or downstream at key life stages. TNCC's concern about the potential for dewatering has merit. A permit applicant must provide a legal description of the point of withdrawal, diversion, or impoundment; the point of water use; and, if water is to be returned to a stream or water body, the point of discharge. 11 AAC 93.040(c)(6). Neither TDL's original applications nor its extension applications indicate precisely the points where the water will be diverted and then returned to the streams. Consequently, it is difficult to determine where a stream may potentially become dewatered. DNR failed to place any conditions on the permits concerning the distance between the point of appropriation and the point of return. See 11 AAC 93.120(e)(2)(A) (providing that DNR may include conditions to maintain a specific quantity of water at a given point to protect fish and wildlife) & 11 AAC 93.120(e)(2)(B) (providing that DNR may include conditions that include the approved location of points of withdrawal and return flow). 11 AAC 93.120(e)(2) gives DNR the authority to include conditions which would have potentially protected fish and wildlife. DNR's decision granting the permit extensions contained one condition regarding fish and wildlife: Operations will be conducted in a manner to minimize wildlife species disruption and habitat destruction. Reclamation will be designed, to the extent practicable, to enhance wildlife habitat diversity and productivity. 11 AAC 93.120(e)(2) gives DNR the authority to include conditions which protect fish and wildlife. Because TDL's extension applications failed to reveal the location of the points of appropriation and return, DNR should have conditioned the permits. DNR might have cured any deficiency in the applications by imposing stringent limitations on dewatering and by requiring that operations cease or be reduced to maintain adequate streamflow for fish and wildlife. The sole condition DNR imposed regarding fish and wildlife is too vague to ensure protection of the salmon habitat from dewatering. Because DNR did not incorporate any specific condition regarding dewatering, it abused its discretion in granting extensions in response to deficient applications. [29]