Alaska Problems Require Alaska Solutions: Local businesses rally to address water crisis in Tuluksak.

• Author: Stricker, Julie
• Position: TRANSPORTATION SPECIAL SECTION

On January 16, a fire destroyed the water plant and washeteria in the southwest Alaska village of Tuluksak.

For the village of about 350 people, it was a devastating blow. The water plant was the only source of drinking water in the village, in which the primarily Yup'ik residents lack indoor plumbing and rely on honey buckets, not uncommon in the flat, swampy region. With COVID-19 raging through the region at the time--one-third of village residents had already tested positive--having enough water for even basic sanitation needs, as well as drinking water, was of the utmost importance.

Tuluksak is located on the Tuluksak River, a tributary of the Kuskokwim River about 37 air miles upstream from Bethel, the regional hub. There are no roads to the village, except for a seasonal ice road on the river if conditions are good, so most freight must be flown or barged in.

Winters in the region are harsh, and snowfall was especially heavy this winter, according to officials. The village was additionally hampered by the fact that the person responsible for keeping the runway plowed had been medevacked to Anchorage with COVID-19 complications.

Initially, residents hauled ice from the Kuskokwim River about a mile away, which wasn't safe to drink, but could be used for other things. But the community's drinking water supply diminished quickly.

In true Alaska fashion, the business community and other organizations stepped in to help. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) met with the State of Alaska, Indian Health Service, and several federal agencies to discuss short and long-term solutions and funding, according to Brian Lefferts, director of the Office of Environmental Health and Engineering for YKHC. Three weeks after the fire, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy issued an emergency disaster declaration for the village.

Lefferts says YKHC divided its response plan into four major phases. First was the need to secure a supply of drinking water. Second, a temporary reverse osmosis water treatment plant that would provide limited water supplies for the community. Third is bringing in a mobile water treatment plant with a much greater capacity than the reverse osmosis plant. Finally, rebuilding the village's permanent water treatment infrastructure.

Phase I

The immediate need was for drinking water. Several organizations, including an indigenous rapper for the pop rap group the Black Eyed Peas, stepped up with donations for water, but how to get the water and equipment to the village in the dead of winter posed the real problem, Tuluksak's airstrip is...