Director’s Report: November 2010

A Report to the Council & Membership on Recent Activities in Napaimute

Sun:

As mentioned in last month’s report, the Native Village of Napaimute was fortunate to receive a Community Environmental Demonstration Project Award from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. With this award we purchased solar panels and a wind turbine to complement our battery inverter system. These additions will further reduce our need for generator power. The equipment and related supplies were quickly ordered and shipped to Aniak where we picked them up and transported to Napaimute by boat before the ice started running in the River.

Mitch Dammeyer spent his last few days as NVN’s Environmental Coordinator, coordinating the installation of the new alternative energy components.

Easiest First:

The solar panels were installed first since they are simply “plug & play”. The six large panels were hung temporarily on the south wall of the Tribal Office and easily connected to the battery inverter. It was amazing to see them immediately contributing electricity made from the sun – even on a late fall afternoon!

Wind:

The next piece of NVN’s new energy system was a bit more challenging: the construction & standing up of a 60’ tower for the wind turbine.

We chose to build our own tower out of pipe that Mitch salvaged in order to save money that could be used to purchase additional solar panels.

Anticipation grew as we came closer to standing up the tower. Mitch was the only one who had a clear vision for how the tower was going to be raised – the rest of us just followed his directions.

It took several adjustments, a little seat-of-the pants engineering and a JD 450 bulldozer but finally, just as it was getting dark, the tower stood up!

Unfortunately, the vendor we purchased the alternative energy equipment from, didn’t have a wind turbine in stock.

It had to be ordered from the factory and wouldn’t arrive in time to beat the ice in the River.

So for now, the tower will just have to serve as a very tall flag pole proclaiming Napaimute’s allegiance to the good ol’ USA.

The wind turbine will be installed as soon as the River is frozen enough to allow us to safely transport it to Napaimute by snow machine.

Ice:

The Kuskokwim River began running ice at Napaimute on October 15th. Within a few days there was too much ice for safe boating, but this year due to mild temperatures freeze up was drawn out for nearly a month.

After 26 days, the ice finally stopped at Napaimute on the evening of November10th. Three days later we were able to cross the River on foot. We crossed two days later by snow machine.

NVN continues to provide freeze up, break up, and monthly ice thickness data to the National Weather Service River Forecast Center.

Fur & Fish: Subsistence Activities during Freeze Up

In Napaimute, like many other communities in rural Alaska, freeze up means people’s thoughts turn towards catching fish through the newly formed ice and trapping furbearing animals as the fresh snow reveals their tracks criss-crossing the country side.

A Few More Freeze Up Snapshots:

Closing:

Freeze up is a beautiful time of the year.

Every day there are changes to be observed. The ice grows from the shore and in calmer or shallower areas. The River’s channel becomes more and more defined as the ice builds out. Day and night the ice makes a gentle brushing sound as it flows by. There’s no more traffic on the River. Animals come out to walk the beaches with less caution.

People stay close to home working on the wood pile or getting winter gear ready. Ice picks and axes are brought back out and sharpened. For the next 6 months or so these will be the most valuable tools.

Dawn comes later and dusk earlier; both with stunning colors starting long before the sun rises and lasting long after it sets.

The nights get longer but once there’s snow on the ground they’re not so dark. Even the starlight reflects off the white blanket.

And the snow tells the story of everything that moves over it – from the smallest mouse to the late-season bear.

Then the ice stops, protesting with hours of loud grinding, groaning and popping. Small mountains of it push up on some beaches and bars. The water rises, sometimes several vertical feet. A small flood that makes a smooth path along the shore for early winter travel when the main ice is still rough.

The wait will soon be over. Freeze up is almost complete. The Land and River will be wide open again.

It will be a new season in Napaimute: winter.

Thank you.

Freeze Up Update: Two Break Ups In One Year!

Since this original report was written, an extended warm spell hit the region. Temperatures rose into the +40s with steady rain. The National Weather Service reported 2.5 inches of rainfall over the Kuskokwim.

All of this water took a few additional days to collect in the tributaries and run into the Kuskokwim River. Although, the warm front had passed and the weather was beginning to cool again, this burst of water into the recently frozen main River began to break up the ice from the headwaters on down.

On Thanksgiving Day the ice began moving at Napaimute and the water level rose 6 feet – enough to cover the beach road from the airport to the original village.

This break up continued on down the River throughout the day and into the next. The River Ice broke up and moved as far as several miles below Kalskag.

Aniak experienced minor flooding of low lying roads at the end of town and a flood warning was issued by the NWS for communities from Kalskag to Bethel on November 26th.

As of this update, the weather has cooled significantly with night time temperatures about +10 or colder and the break up looks to have stopped moving down the River.

The water level at Napaimute has dropped, but the River continues to flow as of this 11/27 report.

This is a very unusual weather event. The last time the River ice broke up in winter was late November/early December 2002. The break up front that year went only as far as the Kolmokofsky River (10 miles below Napaimute) and stopped. The remainder of the River ice downstream held.

This 2010 winter break up is extra notable because it extended over 60 miles further downstream that the 2002 winter break up. This will have much more impact on the establishment of safe travel conditions on the River as it effects the larger communities of Aniak and Kalskag.

When the Middle Kuskokwim River will be safe for winter travel is unknown at this time.