Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities Newsletter

Issue 23, April 2019

Five Things You Need to Know from this Issue

• Denali Commission awarded grants to address environmental threats. 
• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) announced the Tribal Resilience Program for Fiscal Year 2019.
• Alaska shattered heat records in March, impacting rural communities. 
• Savoonga, Alaska deals with permafrost impacts on water and sanitation infrastructure. 
• Residents in Shaktoolik, Alaska share their feedback, hopes, and fears in a community survey.

Better Understanding the Vulnerability of Alaska's Coastline

Alaska’s tidal shoreline measures over 46,600 miles, longer than the shorelines of all the lower 48 states combined. With such a vast and often remote coastline, there is insufficient data collected to assess coastal risks and inform coastal planning. This lack of data poses a challenge for communities all along the coast of Alaska. Perhaps most significantly, communities do not have sufficient Western scientific data about when erosion will impact their infrastructure, which creates uncertainty and makes it more difficult for them to demonstrate the severity of their threat to decision makers.

The recently funded DGGS project will collect the data necessary to determine when infrastructure will be impacted by erosion in the labeled communities. This graphic shows when imagery has been collected for the communities in the past. Credit: DGGS Coastal Hazards Program

Addressing this data gap is the goal of a recent Denali Commission award to the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Coastal Hazards Program. The award will provide funds to update shoreline erosion rates (or project the rates for communities currently without a projection) in 45 coastal communities using historical imagery, and overlay the results with information on the location of existing infrastructure such as schools, tank farms, roads, and water/sewer systems. The Coastal Hazards Program will create maps and tables to illustrate when erosion is expected to impact community infrastructure. This analysis will allow communities to know when erosion might impact their school or homes or sewage lagoon. With this information in hand, community members will be better positioned to understand the threat erosion poses and, in turn, be better equipped to plan a response.

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Recent Events 

Alaska and Arctic Region Experience One of the Warmest Marches on Record

Monthly mean temperature departure from normal, March 2019. Credit: New York Times

In March, Alaska “obliterated” heat records statewide, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) releasing data showing that overall, March temperatures were as much as 20 degrees above historical averages. The number of records broken is too many to list, but here are a few of the most noteworthy:

• The average temperature for March 2019 set “hottest ever” records at 10 of 19 ground-based weather stations in Alaska.
• Utqiaġvik experienced its hottest March in more than 100 years. The average temperature was 18.6 degrees warmer than the historical average and the community received more than four times the normal amount of rain and twice the amount of snow.
• In Southeast Alaska, the village of Klawock hit 70 degrees almost two weeks before than any weather station in the state has reached that temperature in previous recorded history.

March temperatures have far-reaching impacts to Alaskans. Here are a few examples:

River Break-up

In rural Alaska, frozen rivers act much like a highway, allowing people to travel between communities. Two Alaska rivers (the Tanana River and the Kuskokwim River) have had river ice break-up at record-early dates for spring. During the first week of April, many tributaries along the Kuskokwim River were also relatively ice-free – including the Kwethluk River, Eek River, and the Johnson River in front of the community of Nunapitchuk. Early break-up poses a threat to the life and safety of people throughout rural Alaska who use frozen rivers as their main mode of transportation. With ice melting so much earlier than normal, that travel becomes more dangerous and threatens lives. Near Bethel, two men died after their snowmachine fell through the ice in early April and near Kotzebue, two adults and one child died after their snowmachine broke through river ice on the Noatak River.

Impacts on Subsistence

In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, people would normally be going out on frozen rivers in March and April to manaq, which is ice fishing in Yup’ik, an indigenous language in the region. However, the rivers and lakes are too dangerous to travel on, which is impeding access to a vital food source.

Sea Ice Continues to Decline

Sea ice cover in the Arctic likely reached its maximum extent for the year on March 13th, which marked the beginning of the sea ice melt season. Since ice reached its maximum extent, it has been tracking at record low levels. As we reported on in our last issue, the Bering Sea has seen a dramatic and unprecedented decline in sea ice this spring. The lack of sea ice continues to impact communities who rely on ice for spring hunting. In coastal communities, residents use sea ice to hunt walruses and seals who use the ice to rest and give birth. With decreased ice cover this year, this will be more difficult to do. Reduced sea ice and warming ocean temperatures across the Bering Sea are also affecting fish species on which Alaska’s commercially important fisheries depend. 

Community Survey in Shaktoolik Reveals Resident’s Hopes and Fears

Aerial view of Shaktoolik, Alaska. Credit: Creative Commons

Denali Commission Grants Advances Efforts to Address Imminent Environment Threats

In 2015, the Denali Commission, an independent federal agency in Alaska, was tasked by the White House to coordinate the federal response to erosion, flooding, and permafrost degradation impacts to Alaskan communities. The Commission reallocated existing funding to establish the Village Infrastructure Protection Program, which has an annual budget of approximately $5 million. Their program supports critical, strategic efforts to build resilience in communities statewide. Recently, the Denali Commission finalized the following grant awards that address imminent environmental threats:

Observations from the February Bering Sea Storm 

Satellite image of open-ocean and sea ice along western Alaska in advance of the February 12, 2019 storm. Credit: University of Alaska Fairbanks/Geographic Information Network of Alaska and prepared by Rick Thoman, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP)

Storms moved throughout the Bering Sea in February this year, dramatically reducing sea ice coverage and causing coastal flooding in western Alaska. The Alaska Water Level Watch (AWLW) has been working to improve water level data collection along the western coast of Alaska; when the storm event occurred, the monitoring systems in-place were able to capture measurements of the event. Measurements were recorded by a Global Navigation Satellite System sensor at St. Michael, Alaska and NOAA tide gauges in the Alaska communities of Nome and Unalakleet. Additionally, community members in Kotlik, Alaska and Golovin, Alaska photographed impacts and submitted documentation to the Alaska Water Level Watch Facebook page. These data will be used to communicate community-wide flood impacts to emergency managers and help better predict future storms.

Click here to read the full article from the AWLW about observations from the storm.

Community Profile: Savoonga

Aerial view of Savoonga, Alaska. Credit: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ShoreZone.

Problem:

Savoonga, Alaska is one of two communities located on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, and is threatened by erosion and permafrost degradation. In the near term, the community is most concerned about the impact of melting permafrost on their water and sanitation infrastructure, and their homes. The ground beneath utilidors (aboveground pipes) is sinking and tilting, ripping the connection off homes, leaving holes in the wall and cutting off reliable access to water. The melting ground has also caused many residential homes to sink and community members do not have the money to level the houses themselves. In addition to the immediate permafrost impacts, the community expects erosion will be a large problem in the future, largely due to the declining ability of sea ice to buffer winter storms that pummel the land the community sits on. Normally sea ice surrounds the island until May. This year, there was almost no sea ice around the island. Lack of sea ice not only threatens infrastructure, but impedes the community’s ability to hunt whale, seal, and walrus. Those foods and reindeer comprise approximately 80 percent of the local diet.

Next Steps:

Savoonga’s highest priority is to address the water and sanitation impacts from thawing permafrost. To do so, the community is coordinating with the ANTHC’s Alaska Rural Utilities Collaborative (ARUC), which is a statewide program that partners with communities to manage, operate, and maintain water and sewer systems. They also aim to secure funding for an erosion impact assessment and a permafrost assessment, which would assess risks and recommend solutions. In order to protect the health and safety of community members, addressing permafrost impacts on homes by leveling them is also a high priority.

Funding Opportunities

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Tribal Resilience Program

The Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities  (CETC) recommends that all federally recognized Tribes experiencing harmful environmental trends apply to this grant program, which has been highly effective in helping communities prepare for the impacts of extreme events and environmental hazards. Funding is available for adaptation planning, data development, information gathering regarding environmental hazards, and travel to access training. Tribes facing intensifying coastal erosion, flooding, and permafrost degradation impacts also have the ability to address expansion, protect-in-place, and relocation options with this program.

• Due Date: June 10th, 2019
• Read the Request for Proposals here.
• For more information, click here.

Resources

Webinars

BIA Tribal Resilience Informational Webinar

Would you like more information about the BIA Tribal Resilience program and its offerings? BIA and the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) are hosting an informational webinar about the program. Participants will learn about eligible activities that support tribal resilience and/or ocean and coastal management planning.

• Date: Wednesday, May 1st, 9 am Alaska time
• For more information and to register, click here.

Tribal Emergency Management in the Face of Climate Change

ITEP has posted the Tribal Emergency Management in the Face of Climate Change webinar along with additional presentations and resources on the topic. The webinar shares information to build a Tribe’s capacity to respond to extreme weather events. Participants will learn about tools and resources to develop a tribal emergency management plan, financial resources available to build capacity, and strategies to build partnerships with state and federal emergency management teams. 

Informational Resources

Lidar: A Tool for Hazard Mapping

Upcoming Events

2019 Southwestern Tribal Climate Change Summit (SWTCCS)

Interested in building your skills and capacity to address climate change? A group of Tribal organizations and BIA are collaborating to offer the Tribal Climate Camp (TTCC) to support teams of tribal leaders, climate change coordinators, planners, and program managers to build skills, gather information, and develop tribal policy needed to address climate change impacts.

• Location: Flathead Lake Biological Station, Montana
• Date: June 16-21, 2019
• Cost: free, except travel to the event. Food, lodging, local transportation, etc. will be provided.
• For more information and to apply, click here. 

​2019 Tribes & First Nations Climate Change Summit

The 2019 Tribes & First Nations Climate Change Summit will convene leaders from Tribes and First Nations throughout the Pacific Northwest to advance tribal climate change policy and action. The Summit will focus on topics such as tribal climate change resiliency, protecting and applying Traditional Knowledges in climate change initiatives, and implementing a unified tribal climate change policy agenda.

• Location: Northern Quest Casino, Airway Heights, WA
• Date: July 30-31, 2019
• Cost: Registration is $100 for Tribal members, and $200 for non-Tribal participants. A reduced rate for lodging is available at the Northern Quest Casino.
• Scholarship: Click here to complete a scholarship request to help pay for costs related to the Summit. Due June 1st, 2019.
• For more information and to register, click here.

News Roundup

Pace of Bering Sea changes startle scientists: Dramatic changes in the Bering Sea are impacting communities and startling scientists. Philomena, a community coordinator in Kotlik, Alaska, shares how reduced sea ice and winter storms affected her community this spring.

Adapting to melting ice trails isn’t easy, even for Arctic locals: Recent research, which incorporated both Indigenous knowledge and Western science, shows that an Inuit community in Canada has adapted to changing ice conditions by changing their modes of travel.

How a Sea Ice Meltdown is Disrupting Life in Coastal Alaska: This article looks at how reduced sea ice negatively impacts subsistence and commercial fishing throughout Alaska.

Al Roker travels to the Arctic for a firsthand look at climate change: Al Roker, a host of the Today Show, traveled to Utqiagvik to learn about how scientists are tracking the effects of climate change.

About the Center for Environmentally Threatened Communities 

The Center was established with a Denali Commission grant to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and supports rural Alaska communities experiencing infrastructure impacts associated with environmental threats such as flooding, erosion, and melting permafrost. 

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