Back in 2012, Inletkeeper began to strategize about next steps for our member-supported salmon science program as we completed a water temperature study in 48 salmon streams across the Cook Inlet watershed.

Our data collection efforts were addressing our curiosity about how much thermal diversity existed in Cook Inlet streams. (Turns out there’s a lot of variation – a good thing.) Our planned analysis would help us understand how that could change in the future. (By 2060, we’ll lose thermal diversity and have warmer water temperatures overall – not a good thing.) We wondered if our results would have wide-ranging implications for fish populations across the state. (The hot summer of 2019 gave us a glimpse of these implications with high pre-spawn mortality observed across salmon populations.)

These were all valuable questions to pursue; however, there were still so many gaps to be filled before we could implement effective conservation strategies or push for management actions to ensure wild salmon persist in our warming world.

We decided to embrace the enormity of the challenge and describe ALL the next steps that needed to happen. Inletkeeper developed a statewide Stream Temperature Action Plan identifying the highest priority actions for the next decade that would lead to greater protection of Alaska’s wild salmon habitat as thermal change continues.

We knew we couldn’t do it all ourselves, but were optimistic that through collaboration and coordinated discussions, these priority actions could be strategically accomplished through Fish Habitat Partnerships, and other federal, state, Tribal and non-profit organizational efforts.

Now, twelve years later, we’ve put together a progress report to capture all the impressive work that has been achieved collectively since 2012. Here are some highlights:

• Regional temperature monitoring networks got up and running in Bristol Bay, the Kodiak Archipelago, Southeast Alaska, and the Copper River. Efforts are currently underway to expand capacity in the Kuskokwim and Yukon regions.
• AKTEMP | Alaska Water Temperature Database: a publicly-facing, water temperature database was developed in 2023 to facilitate data sharing from different entities and now includes over 34 million water temperature measurements by 24 data providers from 461 monitoring stations.

The Alaska Water Temperature Database was created by Walker Environment Research in collaboration with the Alaska Center for Conservation Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and the U.S. Geological Survey Eastern Ecological Science Center. Map by Marcus Geist.

• Inletkeeper and partners acquired thermal infrared imagery to identify cold water refugia on the Anchor River, Ninilchik River, Big Lake basin, Chuit River, Deshka River, Crooked Creek, Moose River, Beaver Creek, and Funny River.

Thermal imagery from the Deshka guided recommendations of parcel-specific actions on lands with cold-water refugia. (For more, see: https://inletkeeper.org/document/building-habitat-resiliency-for-chinook-salmon-in-the-deshka-river-watershed/)

• Inletkeeper and partners have deployed a paired water and air temperature, real-time station set up, including satellite connection and solar power, at more than 20 monitoring locations. Unfortunately, with the rapid decline of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon, in river fishing is limited in most Cook Inlet streams, so the need for sport fishers and fisheries managers to have real-time data is less of a priority.

Real-time stations operated by Cook Inletkeeper on the Anchor River (2013-2022, pictured), Deshka River (2013-2024), Russian River (2016-2024), and Crooked Creek (2017-2024).

• Significant amount of new literature has been published linking water temperature and salmon in Alaska, including effects of 2019 heatwave on mortality in all five salmon species, effects of warmer winters on egg incubation of coho salmon, and expansion of salmon into the Arctic.

Cheers and sincere gratitude to the data collectors, researchers, and managers who have shown up, collaborated, and encouraged each other over the last twelve years!

Only with member support could Inletkeeper play a leadership role in fostering progress and cultivating the next generation of Alaskans working to protect our wild salmon habitat from the impacts of thermal change. Thank you for this critical support!

*** Stay Tuned: We’ll be releasing a new Freshwater Temperature Action Plan to guide priority actions for 2025-2034 in January.