The community of Napaskiak is relying on water donations as technicians work to repair an issue that has left the water treatment plant inoperable since June 21, according to the local tribe.
On June 26, the Napaskiak Tribal Council passed a resolution formally declaring a water shortage emergency.
Tribal chief Sharon Williams said that an accidental drop in water levels within the plant led to a system failure that technicians hope to have repaired by June 30.
The work is being done through a remote maintenance program run by the state that partners with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) and other regional health care providers.
On June 27, YKHC donated several boatloads of bottled water from Bethel. According to Williams, additional water came from the Association of Village Council Presidents, and the Lower Kuskokwim School District agreed to provide water from the treatment system at the Z.J. Williams Memorial School in the village.
Williams said that the assistance could not have come sooner for the community of roughly 450 people.
“It's been six days, so I'm guessing everyone's out of water,” Williams said.
Williams said that residents had reported getting water from the river in recent days, and that she herself had successfully treated river water by boiling it.
On June 27, a YKHC spokesperson said that the donations should be adequate for the community’s emergency needs until the water treatment plant repairs are complete.
According to Williams, even when fully functional, Napaskiak’s water treatment plant is in a critical state of disrepair. She said that the community is hopeful a federally funded project to drill a new well will be completed as soon as possible.
“When you come to a village and you walk by the water station, you'll see, you can really see how much it sunk in, like over, like, a foot,” Williams said.
With new infrastructure likely years away and the availability of drinking water in question, Napaskiak’s immediate need is a return to the status quo.
This is a developing story and may be updated with additional information.
