FLOOD07038

• County: Statewide
• Community: All
• Stream Name: All
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: ASFPM Abstracts, etc. 1994
• Date: 1/1/1994
• Prepared For: ASFPM
• Prepared By: ASFPM
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

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EMERGENCY W ATI~RSHED PROTECTION ABOVE THE ARCTIC CmCLE
FORT YUKON, ALASKA

by

Lewis Burton'
Joyce Swartzendruber
Lori Wilson3

Many Alaska rivers are highly unstable braided channels with extremely large drainage areas.
Floodplain management is a critical concern to many of the native villages and communities along
these river systems. Concems are tied to typical flooding during high rumoff events, glacial
influences, and to ice jams occurring during breakup. In addition, lateral movement of the rivers
with resulting erosion processes results in an attack on the villages and communities through a
continuing change of the defined floodplain. Many requests for emergency response have been
received by the Soil Conservation Service in Alaska to deal with these erosion problems which
result in potential loss of life and property. Fort Yukon, a native village on the Yukon River north
of the Arctic Circle submitted one such request.

Bank erosion activity due to high water from late spring rains in Canada occurred in Jume, 1992.
The bank erosion threatened the town's fuel tank storage facility, two homes, a public water line
and a territorial school building oflocal historical importance.

SCS Emergency Watershed Funding was provided to install measures to control the erosion. A
contract for construction of a series of spur dikes was awarded in October and the contract was
completed in November and December. The temperatures throughout the construction period
ranged from -30 degrees F to +20 degrees F. This project provided a unique experience in
dealing with construction during the arctic winter. Ice damage to the dikes during the breakup in
1993 was minor. Limited repair work was required to assure the project's long term success.

This effort provided a unique solution to control the lateral attack on the village and at the same
time provided an opportunity to develop a close working relationship with the native community.
Their input was a valuable contribution to the success of the project.

Lewis Burton, State Conservation Engineer, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service,
949 E. 36th Avenue, Suite 400, Anchorage, A1aska 99508, Tel. [phone]

2

Joyce Swartzendruber, Supervisory Soil Conservationist, Soil Conservation Service, 1760 Westwood Way,
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701, Tel. [phone]

Lori Wilson, Civil Engineer, Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 949 East 36th
Avenue, Suite 400, Anchorage, Alaska 99508, Tel. [phone]