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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 42
Ice is Infrastructure: Impacts of Permafrost Degradation
Permafrost, ground that is frozen for two or more years, lies beneath nearly 85% of Alaska. As air temperatures warm, permafrost degrades. This issue shares an overview of the statewide threat and community stories of permafrost degradation impacts.
Permafrost degradation causes the land to sink (subsidence) resulting in landslides, erosion, the disappearance of lakes, the development of new lakes, and saltwater intrusion of freshwater aquifers and surface waters. The greater the ice content in the soil, the more severe the impacts. As the solid ice turns to liquid water, the structural integrity of the soil is compromised. Additionally, water is the enemy of ice. Increasingly severe flooding and precipitation exacerbate permafrost degradation. Subsidence due to permafrost degradation threatens all infrastructure that is not mobile or rapidly adaptable and can lead to the destruction of infrastructure.
89 of Alaska’s 336 communities are threatened by permafrost degradation. Proactive solutions to protect existing infrastructure from permafrost degradation are estimated to cost $1.5 billion over the next 50 years.*
*The Denali Commission Statewide Threat Assessment found that 89 of Alaska’s 336 communities are threatened by permafrost degradation. In response to a Congressional request, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) estimated the total cost to protect existing community infrastructure from permafrost damage is $1.5 billion over the next 50 years.
According to the Denali Commission Statewide Threat Assessment, the 35 communities marked above face the highest level of threat due to permafrost degradation. Credit: Sally Cox, State of Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs.
The 54 communities marked above face the second-highest level of threat due to permafrost degradation according to the Denali Commission Statewide Threat Assessment. Credit: Sally Cox, State of Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs.
“Every building is slanted or warped” in Nunapitchuk, Alaska
“Elders used to say, in 20 or more years, Nunapitchuk will just be water” - Bernice Sallison.
In February 2019, an unseasonable storm caused a permafrost impacted home to flood in Nunapitchuk, Alaska, displacing the residents. Nunapitchuk is uncertain of the severity of future impacts on their lands. Credit: Native Village of Nunapitchuk.
Nunapitchuk, Alaska is located on warm ice-rich permafrost among low-lying wetlands in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Increased erosion, flooding, and permafrost degradation driven by rising temperatures threatens critical community infrastructure including the washeteria, public safety building, and residential homes.
Community member Morris Alexie describes the permafrost as “very soft... very loose... Once you have trampled on the tundra, it will deteriorate. It will easily break and easily sink... Every building you see in the village is slanted or warped. We might level it up, but by the next spring, it is slanted again. There is no hard ground.”
Mitigation Strategy: Nunapitchuk is currently engaging with an engineering consultant to conduct erosion and permafrost risk assessments to forecast impacts and develop solutions.
Sinking Clinic and Washeteria in Quinhagak, Alaska
Permafrost degradation has caused the settlement of the gravel foundation of the multipurpose building in Quinhagak, Alaska. Credit: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Quinhagak, Alaska is a village of 700 located on the Bering Sea coast. Along with coastal and riverine erosion and flooding, the community is experiencing impacts to infrastructure due to permafrost degradation. Most of the structures on post and pad foundations are experiencing differential settlement, which destabilizes the foundation and compromises the structural integrity of the building. Virtually all structures built on the ground surface are impacted, including homes, roads, and the airport. The community’s highest priority is to address impacts to the multipurpose facility, which houses the clinic and washeteria, before the foundation fails. The building is shown in the photo above. Note the gap in the northwest corner of the building between the building and the foundation.
Mitigation Strategy: The community of Quinhagak will pursue structural engineering assessments for the multipurpose facility, the water treatment plant, and the Head Start building to determine if it is possible to repair foundation damage.
Past Issue Highlights
Below, we share stories featured in past issues of our newsletter about the impacts of permafrost degradation on community life, health, and safety.
On May 23, 2020, Delores Abraham and her family fled their home because permafrost degradation created a four to six-foot sinkhole beneath the home’s foundation. Their family recently moved into the Community Center building, which was remodeled with Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. Photo credit: Native Village of Chefornak.
Gordon Brower is a Whaling Captain in Utqiagvik who hunts for bowhead whales every spring and fall. He relies on ice cellars to store the harvested whale meat. However, ice cellars have been failing due to warming temperatures, threatening the community’s food security. Photo credit: Gordon Brower.
Thawing permafrost in Noatak caused a crack in the floor of the water treatment plant. The foundation has settled significantly, perhaps six inches, on one side. An engineering consultant will be assessing the facility as part of an upcoming community-wide permafrost vulnerability assessment. Photo credit: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Permafrost degradation threatens virtually all infrastructure in Point Lay, Alaska. Thawing permafrost damaged a carrier line for the water and sewer system, as shown in the photo above. Additional threats include the community’s freshwater source, a nearby lake, which drained abruptly. Also, the land surrounding homes has subsided several feet such that the homes appear as if they are on stilts. The community and North Slope Borough are considering creating an Infrastructure Protection Task Force to advance immediate actions and long-term planning. High priorities include food security; water and sewer infrastructure; safe housing; and reliable communications. Photo credit: UMIAQ Environmental, LLC.
Next Steps to Prevent Impacts: Immediate Actions and Long-term Vulnerability Assessments
To manage unavoidable permafrost thaw, communities are taking immediate actions to stabilize foundations and replace structures that cannot be repaired. To mitigate long-term impacts, communities are pursuing permafrost vulnerability assessments to model the future threat to infrastructure and develop solutions. Completing vulnerability assessments in 89 communities is expected to cost $13.3 million. After vulnerability assessments are complete, we will be able to better quantify the extent and cost of solutions necessary to protect or replace threatened infrastructure.
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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