Environmental Impact of River Dredging in Arctic Alaska (1981-89)

Abstract

Economic and social development in northern Alaska during the past 25 years has created great demands for sand and gravel. Although this resource is available on some beaches, riverbeds, barrier islands, beach ridges, and alluvial fans, surficial mining often results in undesirable environmental modification in this permafrost-dominated environment and has led to restrictions on extraction. In 1981, for the first time, sand and gravel were transferred directly from the thalweg portion of a river to the tundra surface by a transportable suction dredge at Nuiqsut in the Colville River delta, Alaska. The 400 000 cubic meters of sand and gravel extracted were sufficient to construct a runway and create a stockpile for village use. This procedure has been used in two other rivers (the Meade and Kokolik), three lagoons (Wainwright, Kaktovik, and Barrow), and two lakes (Atqasuk and Barrow). Profiling through 1989 shows that infilling of the dredged channels is a variable process.

Key words: Alaska, North Slope Borough, Colville River, Nuiqsut, permafrost, ice wedge, river dredging, gravel, construction pads