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Native Village of Elim's Tubutulik River Watershed Vulnerability & Risk Assessment for Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen and Stream Flow

Cover Photo: Tubutulik River (Alaska). Photo Credit: Leigh Takak (2020).

Cover Photo: Tubutulik River (Alaska). Photo Credit: Leigh Takak (2020). 

The Native Village of Elim's Tubutulik River Watershed Vulnerability & Risk Assessment for Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and Stream Flow (Assessment) is designed to establish the current baseline conditions for the health of the watershed and identify the current and future vulnerability and risks that threaten the aquatic habitat and subsistence resources in the Tubutulik River Watershed (Watershed) of Alaska. This Assessment process addresses stream and watershed health by gathering the following information: water quality data for water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and instream water flow; the health of in-stream aquatic habitats and land use impacts; and watershed stewardship passed down from Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). This assessment information serves as the first step to help protect the health of the watershed by identifying man-made and climate-related vulnerabilities and risks to the subsistence resources. The assessment then informs the need for watershed protection by submitting an application for instream flow water reservation rights to the state of Alaska. This application carries with it vital recommendations for the federal government to fulfill its federal trust responsibility by conducting adequate environmental and climate impact analyzes in relationship to federal agency actions, such as preventing mining operations and other degrading land use impacts. The goal is to protect the ecological health and subsistence resources of this vital Tubutulik River watershed. The pathway to that goal is to gain approval from Alaska for the water reservation rights application. The protection of the instream flow reservations will prevent damage to the streams by human mining encroachment and foster ecological health with climate resilience restoration and stewardship of the watershed. 

The key climate risk findings impacting and projected to impact the Tubutulik River Watershed can be summed up with the following changes observed and supported by the climate modeling projections:

  • Warmer temperatures, longer spring and earlier fall seasons
  • Fall storms increasing in size and intensity
  • Decreased snowpack affecting water levels in rivers, impacting access to subsistence resources
  • Warmer waters leading to the death of fish before they can spawn
  • Seasonal changes, such as earlier spring break up and later freeze-up of the ocean, are impacting salmon migration
  • Severe fall storms have washed away subsistence foods like clams and berries
  • Warmer weather leading to less snowfall and colder temperatures feeling warmer than usual
  • More wildfire and low river levels
  • Melting permafrost and bank erosion further endangering fish and other species and their habitats
  • Increase in algae along the bottom and sides of the river - more willows; foxtail - considered invasive and possibly brought in by the Iditarod, in the area not present on the river yet
  • More beaver houses along the Tubutulik, which may be affecting the habitat and fish populations

Access to the Assessment (PDF) is found here: Full Report and Report Appendix 

 

 

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