The Northwest Arctic community of Kiana issued a disaster declaration on Tuesday after going several days without running water.
“This is kind of catastrophic to not have water,” Kiana’s mayor, Brad Reich, said. “It's something that is very hard on the families, especially when we got the holidays coming up.”
Even if everything goes well, Reich said it could still be several days until water can be restored to the community of nearly 400 people. And he said temperatures dipping down to minus 30 degrees would further complicate the effort. Reich said Kiana’s water meters stopped working after the community experienced below-zero temperatures and three power outages. The meters are meant to monitor and turn on well pumps. When the pumps stopped running, the line that runs from the well’s tank to the water treatment plant froze and lost pressure. And without water circulating in the system, residents' water and sewer lines could freeze, too.
City crews, along with workers from the nearby community of Noorvik and the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative, are trying to get the water flowing as soon as possible. Reich said the crews worked almost 30 hours non-stop to put a fire hose in the wellhouse to get enough water pressure into the system.
“We're just thinking to keep the crews going, because once you start trying to thaw a line, you don't want to stop,” Reich said.
Reich said residents have drilled holes in the ice of the nearby Kobuk River to get water. And while it’s not clear when the water lines will be thawed, he said he’s trying to remain positive.
“We just need to support each other, try to help each other out and figure out how to fix these things and keep things working for our community members,” he said.
The Northwest Arctic Borough, Maniilaq Health Center and NANA Regional Corporation are helping with heavy equipment and bottled water. Kiana’s store has also given supplies to workers.
Kiana city officials were traveling to Kotzebue Wednesday to pick up more bottled water for the community. They also plan on ratifying their disaster declaration, which will enable them to receive assistance from the state.