Unalakleet suffered water shortage and supply disruption
The impact of the storms which blew through the region over the last several weeks is still being felt in Unalakleet. The airport went 16 days without the main runway due to severe icing and even the schools went to distance learning due to a water shortage brought on by weather issues. As of press time, the city was still on a boil water notice.
High water and ice cracked the transmission line at Powers Creek, which slowed the water flow to the treatment plant. The water tank, which is full at around 26 feet and was at 12 feet through the summer, dropped to two feet of water left in the tank. “That’s dangerously close to no water,” said Unalakleet City Manager Moe Zamarron. The city almost got to the point of pumping brackish water to keep the system from freezing.
Residents were asked to conserve water. “Working together really turned us around,” Zamarron said.
At the same time, cargo planes did not make it to Unalakleet due to an iced up runway and store shelves ran bare. The Department of Transportation tried to clear the ice off the runway, but after repeated storms, it was estimated to be a couple inches thick.
Bering Air was able to use the east-west runway for smaller planes, but the first plane in wasn’t until December 31. On it were remote maintenance workers from Norton Sound Health Corporation’s Office of Environmental Health who came to address the water issue. Used in these kinds of emergencies, Zamarron said the program is a “tremendous boost to us.”
Zamarron also mentioned some “innovation in locating leaks” that OEH was interested in learning about. The city measures water flow through pipes at given locations and buried six sensors evenly spaced along their five mile pipeline. “When you see the flow drop between two sensors, you know between which two points the leak is located. It narrows our search down tremendously,” he said.
On January 7, Zamarron posted on social media that “the work performed over the past couple of days has improved the flow from the creek to around 50 gallons per minute. This is an increase over what it had been for the last several months, so we look forward to seeing the tank level raise as a result.” He also warned that there may be some discoloration from the taps for a couple days.
As of January 11, the tank’s water supply was at approximately four feet, and gaining about half a foot per day. However, the cleaning of the filter system, a process called backwashing, which to ensures cleaner water, takes about half a foot every time. The City of Unalakleet wrote that they will be limiting the backwashing to once every two or three days.
The city is under a boil water notice under the water tests come back safe from the DEC. This usually happens around the 8-10 foot mark, by which point the chlorine treatment will have had the requisite time to kill off bacteria.
On January 7, 2022, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski announced that Unalakleet would be getting $651,000 to develop a water-haul system, which will improve access to treated, potable water. This money comes from the Indian Community Development Block Grant-American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Freight and large passenger aircraft were unable to land from December 26, 2021, and only restarted on January 7, 2022, Zamarron said.
“It was awful. It was like we were very isolated,” resident Willa Eckenweiler said.