Environment

The flooding near Napaimute has devastated most of the cabins at the seasonal village site. The National Weather Service began flying their River Watch crew along the Kuskokwim River this week to monitor break up conditions. Hydrologist Celine Van Breukelen shared her observations from April 30.

Longtime residents of the Kuskokwim River and the National Weather Service are expecting ice jams and flooding this breakup. To reduce the risk of both, some residents have floated the idea of "sanding" the river. The process involves dropping sand from a crop duster airplane onto the ice. The dark sand helps soften the ice so that it is less likely to jam when it cracks. Sanding hasn’t occurred in decades, but one person in Bethel remembers sanding the rivers in the late 1970s, mostly the Yukon River. Tim Meyers shares this memory.

An ice jam is holding downstream of Napaimute, flooding the seasonal village. At Aniak, the ice is shifting, according to Aniak resident Dave Cannon. Cannon described the Kuskokwim ice shifting in front of the village during KYUK’s afternoon river update on April 30. He narrated as a huge ice pan moved downstream with six pressure ridges on it, and large chunks of ice were flowing down Aniak Slough.

Villages in the Y-K Delta are preparing for a greater chance of flooding than in recent years, according to the National Weather Service. The state’s emergency operations center is carefully watching the melting ice on rural rivers to see if it will need to intervene, which could include flying entire villages to hubs like Bethel or Anchorage.

Ice is melting in the Y-K Delta. With abnormally high snowfall during one of the coldest winters in years, people are expecting more water and more flooding than usual this spring. Some Bethel residents are already seeing high water levels around their homes, and city administration is planning for the scenario where people need to evacuate.