HomeMy WebLinkAboutBBNA_support resolutionBRISTOL BAY NATIVE ASSOCIATION
P.O. BOX 310
DILLINGHAM, ALASKA 99576
(907)842-5257
Resolution 2019 - 04
A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING FEASIBILITY STUDIES OF THE PROPOSED
HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT AT THE NUYAKUK RIVER FALLS
WHEREAS: The Bristol Bay Native Association (BBNA) is a regional non-profit tribal consortium
that serves 31 tribes in the Bristol Bay Region; and,
WHEREAS: The Nushagak Electric and Telephone Cooperative (NETC), based in Dil lingham, has been
researching and engaging in community discussions about the feasibility of a hydroelectric
project at the Nuyakuk River Falls, just inside the Wood-Tikchik State Park, that would
have the capacity to meet the electric power needs of Dillingham and Nushagak area
villages for the foreseeable future; and
WHEREAS: The proposed project would not a require a dam or other large-scale construction at the
site, but would generate power by diverting a portion of the flow before the falls through a
penstock, returning the water into the river just below the falls; and
WHEREAS: The project would have the potential additional benefit of enabling the extension of fiber
optic cable for broadband to all the project communities; and
WHEREAS: At the present time the proposal is merely conceptual and NETC will need to access major
grant funding or legislative appropriations to fully assess the feasibility and costs of the
project; and
WHEREAS: For many years BBNA has supported the use of renewable energy sources as an alternative
to diesel fuel electric generation in the Bristol Bay region, including sponsoring a Bristol
Bay Alternative Energy Task Force in the early 2000s, holding regional energy
conferences in 2006 and 2008 that set a goal of moving the region entirely off of diesel
electric generation by 2025, and the 2015 Bristol Bay Regional Energy Plan (produced
jointly with the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference); and
WHEREAS: The Nuyakuk project is supported in BBNA's current Comprehensive Economic
Development Strategy (CEDS); and
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY the Board of Directors of the Bristol Bay Native Association
that it supports the efforts ofNETC to obtain grant funding or direct appropriations to thoroughly study the
feasibility, engineering, and environmental impacts of a hydroelectric facility at the Nuyakuk River Falls.
Signed: J41'C ,
Fred T. Angasan, Chairmanthe Board
CERTIFICATION:
I, the undersigned Secretary of the Bristol Bay Native Association, do hereby certify that the Full Board of
Directors of the Bristol Bay Native Association passed the foregoing resolution at a duly called and noticed
meeting on this 21st day of March, 2019 and that a quorum was present.
Signed:r
Robert Heyano, Secretary
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