About the Projects

Grant Lake / Falls Creek Project Area

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The project is located near the community of Moose Pass, Alaska (pop. 206), approximately 25 miles north of Seward, Alaska (pop. 3,016), just east of the Seward Highway (State Route 9); this highway connects Anchorage (pop. 279,671) to Seward. The Alaska Railroad parallels the route of the Seward Highway, and is also adjacent to the proposed project area. The town of Cooper Landing is located 24 miles to the northwest and is accessible via the Sterling Highway (State Route 1) which connects to the Seward Highway approximately 10 miles northwest of Moose Pass.

Grant Lake is located approximately 1.5 miles southeast from Moose Pass. It is located at an elevation of approximately 696 ft above mean sea level (MSL), with a maximum depth of nearly 300 ft and surface area of 2.6 square miles (APA 1984). Grant Lake’s total drainage area is approximately 44 square miles. Tributaries include Inlet Creek at the headwaters and other glacial-fed streams in the watershed. Grant Lake consists of an upper and lower portion separated by a natural constriction and island near the midpoint. The lake is ringed by mountains of the Kenai Mountain Range to the east, north, and south, with elevations ranging from 4,500 to 5,500 ft.

Grant Lake’s only outlet, Grant Creek, runs west approximately 1 mile from the south end of Grant Lake to drain into the narrows between Upper and Lower Trail Lake. Trail River drains Lower Trail Lake, and then flows into Kenai Lake. Kenai Lake drains to the Kenai River at its west end near Cooper Landing (APA 1984). Grant Creek has a mean annual flow of 193 cubic feet per second (cfs), is 5,180 ft long, with an average gradient of 207 ft/mi; its substrate includes cobble and boulder alluvial deposits and gravel shoals (APA 1984). The stream is 25 ft wide on average. In its upper half, the stream passes through a rocky gorge with three substantial waterfalls; in its lower half, the stream becomes less turbulent as it passes over gravel shoals and diminishing boulder substrate (APA 1984).

Falls Creek occupies the valley immediately south of the Grant Lake Valley , and drains into the Trail River approximately 1.8 miles downstream of the mouth of Grant Creek and 0.5 miles north of the town of Crown Point . The Falls Creek watershed is about 12 square miles and has an estimated average annual flow of 38 cfs, with a stream length of 8 miles, and an average stream gradient of 418 feet per mile (APA 1984). The creek runs through a very confined, steep walled valley with numerous waterfalls.

Crescent Lake Project Project Area

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Crescent Lake is located 4 miles south of the community of Moose Pass, Alaska (pop. 206), approximately 25 mi north of Seward, Alaska (pop. 3,016), and just east of the Seward Highway (State Route 9); this highway connects Anchorage (pop. 279,671) to Seward. The Alaska Railroad parallels the route of the Seward Highway , and is also adjacent to the project area. The town of Cooper Landing is located 15 miles to the northwest and is accessible via the Sterling Highway (State Route 1) which connects to the Seward Highway approximately 10 miles northwest of Moose Pass. Crescent Lake (2 square miles) is located at an elevation of approximately 1,454 feet (ft) above mean sea level.

Crescent Lake is approximately 6 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. The total drainage area of the lake is approximately 21 square miles. The lake is curved, with both ends extending north; mountains of the Kenai Mountain Range surround the lake, reaching elevations of over 5,000 ft. The lake is fed by several small streams originating in the surrounding mountains. One of these streams originates from a small glacier on the southwest flank of Madsen Mountain (elevation 5,269 ft). Crescent Creek flows 6.1 miles northwest from its outlet at through a shallow canyon to join Quartz Creek, which flows south through a wide valley and drains into Kenai Lake . A valley extends to the north, in the vicinity of Carter Lake.

Crescent Lake supports resident Arctic grayling (DNR 1998) and does not support anadromous fish (Johnson and Daigneault 2008). Anadromous fish species are present in the lower reach of Crescent Creek (Johnson and Daigneault 2008). Arctic grayling are likely present in the upper reaches of the creek. Carter Lake is located approximately 0.5 miles north of the northeast tip of Crescent Lake , at an elevation of 1,486 ft. Maximum lake depth is 60 ft, with a mean depth of 30 ft; the lake has a surface are of 48 acres and 1.8 mi of shoreline. Anadromous fish species are not known to access Carter Lake (Johnson and Daigneault 2008), but the lake is stocked with rainbow trout. Carter Creek supports anadromous fish (Johnson and Daigneault 2008) and it is likely that the lower reaches also support rainbow trout and Dolly Varden.