Kuskokwim River

Higher than normal snowpack and ice thickness, among other factors, have created heightened risks in 2026 for much of the Yukon River, the Tanana River, and the lower Kuskokwim River, according to the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center.

The funds come after the U.S. Secretary of Commerce declared a disaster for the 2021 subsistence fishery and set aside roughly $570,000. Eligible households are those whose ability to access subsistence salmon from the Kuskokwim River drainage was impacted as a direct or indirect result of the fishery disaster.

Following a request from the state and the transfer of a surplus grader, crews were able to plow the road roughly 40 miles beyond its normal southernmost point to reach Tuntutuliak for the first time since 2020.

Changes to federal subsistence management are still possible through a newly started regulation review process.

Amid ongoing legal battles and opposition among tribes in the region, Donlin Gold's general manager, Todd Dahlman, offered a bold timeline for potential completion of the proposed massive open-pit mine.

Early season truck trails are being used on the lower Kuskokwim River, though they are not the official Kuskokwim Ice Road.

Bethel Search and Rescue (BSAR) and the Kuskokwim Ice Road crew conducted the first aerial freeze-up survey of the season and have received a request from SEOC to extend this year’s ice road to provide flood relief.

UPDATE: The National Weather Service has canceled the flood warning for Kalskag.While the river ice in front of Bethel has officially broken up, a flood warning remains in place until the evening of May 7 roughly 90 miles up the Kuskokwim River at Kalskag. An ice jam has sent water over the road connecting the lower and upper sections of the community.

Bethel’s Kuskokwim Ice Classic tripod tripped the clock at 4:10 p.m. on May 5, 2025, marking breakup in Bethel. That’s three days earlier than breakup at Bethel last year.

Just hours after residents reported ice moving out in Aniak on Wednesday (April 30) evening, a large run arrived from upriver and jammed up just below the community. As of Thursday (May 1) evening, no flooding had been reported.