Beach Sand - Coastal Erosion

Observation: I've lived most of my life in Hooper Bay. I subsist off the land, greens and berries, aside from the usual wild game. We went for blueberries today, and along the way I noticed beach grass laying flay on the ground with a bed of sand which had been blown onto by the strong winds the last few days. We are losing coastline due to erosion and this is a sad sight to witness. Especially that I grew up here and we used to have 5 rows of sand dunes, now we are down to the last 2 rows. The second to last row we already started losing last summer.

LEO says: This observation has been forwarded to the Division of Geological Geophysical Surveys

Division of Geological Geophysical Surveys Consult Jaci Overbeck, Coastal Hazards Program Manager, writes: Erosion at dunes near Hooper Bay was documented between 2013 and 2015, at the inflection point between the mainland coastline and the southward extending spit. Erosion was approximately 65 feet landward at the inflection point (profile 21; http://maps.dggs.alaska.gov/acpt/). The beach north of this point experienced accretion, while the beach directly to the south experienced erosion. A community-based monitoring effort was initiated through BeringWatch in 2017."

Resources:

LEO Network Coastal Erosion – LEO project map Watch-Coastal Erosion, There are several resources available to help communities address erosion and its impacts. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) can help determine the nature, extent and severity of geological impacts such as significant erosion. In particular, the Coastal Hazards Program looks at how "Alaska's coastline has evolved and how it will respond to hazardous events and long-term changes."

The Alaska Army Corps of Engineers can help guide communities through existing publications in order to develop basic designs to address erosion issues.

The EPA Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) coordinators can help identify funding opportunities and write grants to fund erosion related projects. Specifically, GAP grants are available to Tribes to address erosion issues related to solid or hazardous waste.

More information on addressing erosion issues can be found in Understanding and Evaluating Erosion Problems report, created by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development in partnership with the Alaska Division on Community and Regional Affairs.

This observation has been shared with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, as well as the Alaska Army Corps of Engineers, to see if there are any on-going erosion projects in this area.