As communities in Alaska ’s Kenai Lowlands prepare for a changing climate, information about groundwater is essential to manage the watershed for both people and salmon. To better understand the availability of groundwater and how human activities impact this resource, a collaborative research project led by the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and University of South Florida built a model that shows the depth and extent of aquifers and predicts groundwater discharge and recharge. The project team joined this new science with local expertise to interpret the groundwater model for use in land use planning, permitting, policy decisions, and habitat protection.

About this resource

In this webinar from the Montana Institute on Ecosystems' Rough Cut Seminar Series, Dr. Mark Rains discusses this project and other related work on groundwater in the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The presentation tells the story of groundwater's importance to salmon streams, communities, and the local economy, and shares outcomes from a stakeholder engagement process to improve groundwater management in the Kenai Peninsula.