Dunleavy declares emergency as erosion threatens Noatak’s drinking water

A photograph of Noatak connected Sept. 27, 2024. (Courtesy Jeffrey Luther)

About 4 years ago, Jeffrey Luther noticed thing unusual on nan stream adjacent nan separator of Noatak successful Northwest Alaska. A caller transmission had formed, branching disconnected from nan larger Noatak River. 

“As nan years spell by, it conscionable sewage deeper and deeper,” said Luther, who is nan biology coordinator for nan Village of Noatak. “The existent sewage much swift successful front, and that’s erstwhile each nan havoc started.”

Luther documented immoderate of that havoc utilizing aerial drones. He said nan caller transmission is threatening nan community’s substance tanks, generators, and moreover actual barriers meant to forestall nan erosion. 

“I noticed nan aged landfill is falling into nan stream and going downstream from wherever it utilized to beryllium buried,” Luther said. “And past I noticed that there’s immoderate erosion heading towards nan airstrip.”

Erosion adjacent Noatak’s airdrome runway connected Sept. 27, 2024. (Courtesy Jeffrey Luther)

Luther said what’s astir concerning is that nan erosion is threatening Noatak’s h2o line, nan sole root of drinking h2o for nan organization of astir 500 people. 

“The erosion has brought nan statement from nan good wholly supra water,” said Chris Hatch, nan nationalist information coordinator for nan Northwest Arctic Borough. “They’ve been trying to stabilize it now for nan past six weeks aliases so, but we cognize that that statement will break. Whether it breaks earlier crystal aliases after, it will beryllium surgery this year.”

Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an emergency declaration for Noatak pursuing weeks of rainfall and precocious water. 

University of Alaska Fairbanks climatologist Rick Thoman said there’s small upwind information for Noatak specifically, but nan Northwest Arctic Borough has seen record-breaking rainfall and snowfall complete nan past respective years — a nonstop consequence of warming Arctic temperatures. 

Thoman said each twelvemonth since 2017, pinch 1 exception, has had “significantly supra normal” precipitation — and that past twelvemonth had nan astir precipitation since scientists began keeping way 7 decades ago.

Thoman said this summertime was nan sixth rainiest. In Noatak, residents said nan stream h2o has been exceptionally precocious this year, and they are still getting rain.

“Flash floods travel astir each clip we get dense rains and we flood successful a fewer days, moreover overnight,” said h2o works usability John Williams. “But we get flash floods each autumn until it freezes up.”

An aerial/drone photograph from Sept. 23, 2024 shows Noatak’s waterline supra nan channel. (Courtesy Jeffrey Luther)

Thoman said for Noatak, there’s different looming threat to nan erosion. 

“As nan slope is eroding, it’s exposing permafrost instantly to nan air, which past thaws and falls into nan stream and exposes much permafrost,” Thoman said. “So it’s a very unstable business successful that regard.”

Tribal officials said their astir contiguous interest is securing nan community’s h2o statement and moving nan substance tanks, which is simply a gangly bid pinch wintertime closing in. Noatak is only accessible by air, and nan costs of chartering planes to bring successful dense instrumentality tin beryllium tens of thousands of dollars.

The people declared an emergency successful early August, with nan Northwest Arctic Borough and authorities pursuing suit a period later. 

“It was much vulnerable this twelvemonth than nan erstwhile years, and that’s why we took into information that it was an emergency disaster,” said Noah Penn, Noatak’s tribal administrator. 

For now, Penn said, nan people is moving pinch respective location and statewide organizations to find solutions earlier freeze-up. It has already applied to nan authorities for permitting for impermanent bypass h2o lines. He said 1 action nan people is considering is submerging nan h2o statement and permanently anchoring it nether nan river. 

In nan meantime, Penn said nan organization has begun moving their substance tanks distant from nan eroding shoreline, which he hopes will beryllium done successful nan adjacent fewer weeks.