Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities

We support communities to address environmental threats and achieve their vision for a safe, healthy, and sustainable future.

Newsletter Issue 29, November 2019

Four Things You Should Know From This Issue

1. Critical research helps to answer the question “which Alaskan communities are the most threatened?”
2. The new residents of Mertarvik, Alaska received training on their in-home sanitation systems.
3. Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal organizations were awarded approximately $4 million from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to build resilience in Alaskan communities.
4. Napakiak selected a new site for the community’s managed retreat and aims to build a road there as soon as possible.

Critical Research Helps to Answer, “Which Alaska Communities are the Most Threatened?”

This map shows the combined level of threat to erosion, flooding, and thawing permafrost in Alaska’s rural communities. Of the communities evaluated in the study, the communities with the highest threat are dark red and the communities with the lowest threat are shown in dark green. Credit: Denali Commission. 

The Statewide Threat Assessment: Identification of Threats from Erosion, Flooding, and Thawing Permafrost in Remote Alaska Communities was published this month by the Denali Commission. This $617,000 multi-year effort assessed threats to public infrastructure from erosion, flooding, and thawing permafrost in 187 rural Alaskan communities. The study was completed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Institute of Northern Engineering and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in close collaboration with the Denali Commission. The report has two primary goals: 1) to advance the understanding of environmental threats to community infrastructure and 2) to provide a tool that can be used by government and non-government organizations to prioritize investments toward the most at-risk communities. Additionally, the report indicates that little progress has been made to close data gaps identified in 2009 with the publication of the Baseline Erosion Assessment by USACE. The report recommends additional investment in community-specific data collection and vulnerability analysis in order to guide long-term community decision making and to inform the development of effective solutions to environmental threats.

If you have any questions regarding the report, contact Don Antrobus, Program Manager with the Denali Commission, at dantrobus@denali.gov or (907) 271-3500.

Recent Events 

New Residents of Mertarvik, Alaska Learn About Their New Water and Sanitation System

ANTHC Project Manager Jackie Schaeffer trains Mertarvik residents on how to use the Portable Alternative Sanitation System (PASS). Credit: ANTHC.

Over the last three weeks in October, families relocating from Newtok, Alaska to Mertarvik, Alaska settled into their new homes, new school, new roads – and new in-home sanitation systems. The Portable Alternative Sanitation System (PASS), now in all 21 Mertarvik homes, was developed by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) and installed in five communities before Mertarvik. PASS eliminates the honey bucket (a toilet, usually a five-gallon bucket, that must be emptied manually) and provides clean running water without the costs of infrastructure or piped service. The system is simple:

1. A rain catchment system fills water barrels.
2. A switch turns on an electric pump that pulls water through filters into a storage tank.
3. The tank feeds a sink with clean running water.
4. A separating toilet diverts urine into the ground so that feces can be dried and thrown away.

ANTHC provided training on PASS to each relocating family in two stages: first, an orientation in Newtok, followed by in-home training in Mertarvik. In Newtok, ANTHC PASS Project Manager Jackie Schaeffer used a 3D-printed PASS model and example separating toilet to walk residents through the system and explain the simple maintenance tasks it requires. During the school day, every student in Newtok dove into PASS activities and showed they are ready to be sanitation system engineers. Once families relocated to Mertarvik, the ANTHC PASS team visited each home to provide a written homeowner manual and hands-on training. With ANTHC on hand to answer questions, homeowners filled their water tanks, tested their sinks, and watched the dirty water run down the drain.

How is PASS beneficial to the statewide issue of environmental impacts to infrastructure?

1. It is low-cost and modular, enabling the system to move with a home.
2. It is a solution for communities when funding does not exist to support a piped water and sanitation system.
3. It can support communities as they move homes to new sites before a piped system is installed.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Resilience Program Awards $4 Million to Alaska Native Communities

As part of a BIA Tribal Resilience funded project, Savoonga, Alaska (shown in the aerial photo above) will assess the risk of thawing permafrost to their community. Credit: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ShoreZone.

The largest challenge for Alaskan communities facing threats to infrastructure from flooding, erosion, and permafrost degradation, is accessing funding for their solutions. Most state and federal grant programs are not designed to address the unique challenges Alaska communities face, and complex requirements often make it difficult for communities to access funds when they are available. However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Resilience program is proving to be of great benefit for communities. In 2019, approximately $4 million in awards went to federally recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations in Alaska – approximately 46% of the total funding. Below are a few examples of projects that were funded in 2019:

• The Native Village of Savoonga was awarded a $149,943 grant for a community-wide permafrost vulnerability assessment. This project will assess permafrost risk to the community and inform long-term planning to protect threatened infrastructure.
• The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska was awarded a $149,825 grant for a Community Adaptation Summit for Tribes in the Aleutian and Bering Sea islands. The Summit will bring together leaders from island and coastal tribes in the Aleutian and Bering Sea region to focus on adaptation planning.
• The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council was awarded a $149,255 grant for vulnerability assessments for changing hydrology in interior Yukon River Basin communities. The project will work with four Alaska Native communities in the region to document traditional knowledge and set up simple (stakes and pictures) and state-of-the-art (GIS mapping, drones and sensors) monitoring tools.

Napakiak Chooses Subdivision Site for Managed Retreat

Map of Napakiak, Alaska with the location of the future subdivision site in green. Credit: Summit Consulting.

On November 6, 2019, Napakiak, Alaska chose a new site for their managed retreat from the Kuskokwim River erosion. A new school is being planned at a site that is estimated to be safe for at least fifty years. Community buildings and homes will line both sides of the road to the school. However, the current crux is finding funding to build a 1,700-foot pioneering road to the new school site so construction can begin or be completed before the current school is impacted by erosion. At an interagency planning meeting in Anchorage on November 13, 2019, City Council Member Walter Nelson said, “We are trying to make our community a better and safer place.”

Golovin, Alaska is Planning for Migration to Higher Ground

Aerial view of Golovin, Alaska. All infrastructure in the area outlined in red is threatened by storm surge flooding. The community intends to migrate to the higher ground adjacent to the current site. Credit: ANTHC.

Frequent storm-surge flooding threatens the majority of community infrastructure in the downtown portion of Golovin, Alaska. In order to protect their community, Golovin intends to develop a new subdivision site on higher ground. Although a road and electricity already run through the planned site, and the water treatment plant is nearby, the process will take years to plan and implement. Currently, the community is working with Bristol Engineering on a project funded by the Denali Commission to layout, survey, and plat the new site. In October, two staff from our team at ANTHC and two staff from Bristol traveled to Golovin to discuss community priorities, conduct a preliminary relocation feasibility assessment of infrastructure in the flood zone, and meet with community leaders about the layout of the new site. The next step in the migration planning process includes structural engineering assessments, homeowner interviews, surveys, and the creation of a migration master plan to guide the scope, timing, and methodology of the move.

Funding Opportunities

Community Development Grant Program for Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages (ICDBG)

This is a great opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address infrastructure impacts from environmental hazards. The ICDBG program can provide funding for housing, community facilities, and economic development.

• Up to $600,000 is available per community
• Eligibility: Tribal governments  
• Deadline: February 3, 2010
• More information: To read the Notice of Funding Availability, click here.

2019 FEMA PDM Grant Program

FEMA has announced the 2019 PDM grant program. This is an opportunity to fund projects identified in your community’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.

• Eligibility: Any local or Tribal government with a valid Hazard Mitigation Plan
• Due Date: January 31, 2020
• FY 2019 Pre-Disaster Mitigation Notice of Funding Availability
• FY 2019 Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fact Sheet

Upcoming Events

Tribal Grant Writing Training

Would you like to improve your grant writing skills? ANTHC is hosting a Tribal Grant Writing training workshop aimed at improving participant’s grant writing skills.

• Location: Nome, Alaska
• Date: December 10-12, 2019
• Register here.
• Scholarships: A limited number of travel scholarships for rural Alaska Native/American Indian professionals are available. Register first for more information about scholarships.

News Roundup

City Council Weighs Options as Rapid Erosion Threatens Dillingham Sewer: Erosion is eating away at the coastline near Dillingham’s sewage lagoon. The City is considering whether to protect the current lagoon or build a new one in a different location.

Shaktoolik Receives $1 Million to Improve Storm Surge Berm in Three Critical Areas: Support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will build three sections of a reinforced storm surge berm between community infrastructure and the Bering Sea.

Emergency Management Officials Assess Aid Options in Akiak, Alaska: In October 2019, state emergency management officials visited Akiak to see how they can help implement solutions to protect infrastructure threatened by erosion. The funding would come from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Erosion is Affecting Utqiagvik Roads and Cultural Traditions: Erosion threatens a path in Utqiagvik, Alaska that residents depend upon for subsistence hunting and fishing.

Erosion Drains Goldfish Lake in Port Heiden: In Port Heiden, Alaska, coastal erosion has caused Goldfish Lake to breach and flow into the Bay.

About the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities 

The goal of the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities (CETC) is to support rural Alaskan communities experiencing infrastructure impacts associated with flooding, erosion, and permafrost degradation. The team does this primarily through grant writing, technical assistance, and project coordination.

ETC@anthc.org | (907) 729-4521 | www.anthc.org/cetc | 4500 Diplomacy Drive, Suite 561, Anchorage, AK 99508

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