About four years ago, Jeffrey Luther noticed something strange along the river near the edge of Noatak in Northwest Alaska. A new channel had formed, branching off from the larger Noatak River.
“As the years go by, it just got deeper and deeper,” said Luther, who is the environmental coordinator for the Village of Noatak. “The current got more swift in front, and that's when all the havoc started.”
Luther documented some of that havoc using aerial drones. He said the new channel is threatening the community’s fuel tanks, generators, and even concrete barriers meant to prevent the erosion.
“I noticed the old landfill is falling into the river and going downstream from where it used to be buried,” Luther said. “And then I noticed that there's some erosion heading towards the airstrip.”
Luther said what’s most concerning is that the erosion is threatening Noatak’s water line, the sole source of drinking water for the community of around 500 people.
“The erosion has brought the line from the well completely above water,” said Chris Hatch, the public safety coordinator for the Northwest Arctic Borough. “They've been trying to stabilize it now for the last six weeks or so, but we know that that line will break. Whether it breaks before ice or after, it will be broken this year.”
Earlier this month, Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued an emergency declaration for Noatak following weeks of rain and high water.
University of Alaska Fairbanks climatologist Rick Thoman said there’s little weather data for Noatak specifically, but the Northwest Arctic Borough has seen record-breaking rain and snowfall over the last several years — a direct result of warming Arctic temperatures.
Thoman said every year since 2017, with one exception, has had “significantly above normal” precipitation — and that last year had the most precipitation since scientists began keeping track seven decades ago.
Thoman said this summer was the sixth rainiest. In Noatak, residents said the river water has been exceptionally high this year, and they are still getting rain.
“Flash floods come around every time we get heavy rains and we flood in a few days, even overnight,” said water plant operator John Williams. “But we get flash floods all fall until it freezes up.”
Thoman said for Noatak, there's another looming threat to the erosion.
“As the bank is eroding, it's exposing permafrost immediately to the air, which then thaws and falls into the river and exposes more permafrost,” Thoman said. “So it's a very unstable situation in that regard.”
Tribal officials said their most immediate concern is securing the community’s water line and moving the fuel tanks, which is a tall order with winter closing in. Noatak is only accessible by air, and the cost of chartering planes to bring in heavy equipment can be tens of thousands of dollars.
The tribe declared an emergency in early August, with the Northwest Arctic Borough and state following suit a month later.
“It was more dangerous this year than the previous years, and that's why we took into consideration that it was an emergency disaster,” said Noah Penn, Noatak’s tribal administrator.
For now, Penn said, the tribe is working with several regional and statewide organizations to find solutions before freeze-up. It has already applied to the state for permitting for temporary bypass water lines. He said one option the tribe is considering is submerging the water line and permanently anchoring it under the river.
In the meantime, Penn said the community has begun moving their fuel tanks away from the eroding shoreline, which he hopes will be done in the next few weeks.