Emmonak Water Crisis (Metlakatla: houses, school district, utilities)

[SarisaSMouse]

How often do water crises happen in the bush, and what do bush communities do to assist each other when they happen? Or do they?

[AKStafford]

Happens quite often. These systems are often poorly maintained due to the lack of qualified maintenance personal. And they operate in harsh conditions. And when they go down, there's no back up.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by SarisaSMouse

How often do water crises happen in the bush, and what do bush communities do to assist each other when they happen? Or do they?

Are you thinking of moving to Emmonak? I'm sitting next to s lady this week that lives there. Got any questions for me to ask?

[Haolejohn]

Basically Emmonak had a fire that damaged their sewer system and has caused some water issues, since the sewer can't be used.

If you are thinking about moving there, please understand that there are no houses, and no jobs for someone with no ties to the village.

[SarisaSMouse]

Winter is here. Pipes freeze. The river freezes. Possible health crisis with extended honey bucket use in crowded homes with no access to treated water.

How many honey buckets should each home have? How often should they be dumped? Are there separate bags to use for human waste, or just regular bags? How to tag the bags for the dump?

How can homes keep their pipes from freezing, so when service restored not a worse problem?

How is laundry taken care of, since washer usage requires pipes? What is best way to wash non-hand washable clothes in cold weather? Ok to hand wash and then use dryer?

Can parents request to home school their children, or are the children required to be at the school to receive their lessons?

Where will the additional water come from to fill the storage tank which is empty? Will the water be rationed?

Where will water come from in the meantime?

Can families home treat river water for their needs?

Do the Native Corporations assist in securing water and supplies for villagers?

Do surrounding villages?

[SarisaSMouse]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

Basically Emmonak had a fire that damaged their sewer system and has caused some water issues, since the sewer can't be used.

If you are thinking about moving there, please understand that there are no houses, and no jobs for someone with no ties to the village.

The water issue existed before the fire. The fire exacerbated the water issue.

Kwik'pak uses a lot of water. Looks like there's an arrangement for Kwik'pak to have the lion's share during the day, and the villagers have precedence at night - but commercial fishing season is long over. How are storage tanks usually kept filled? Does Kwik'pak help cover costs to replenish the tank as commercial season ends, or is that strictly a village responsibility?

There wasn't that much water being held in storage. Did they find out how the flooding of the pumps which came before the fire occurred in the first place?

I don't think there's housing anywhere in Alaska. A system which relies on who you know is very Alaskan. It is what it is, and I assume it's that way for a good reason in spite of first glance.

If this is normal for the Bush, it's best to have knowledge about how to deal with it when it happens, you know?

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by SarisaSMouse

I don't think there's housing anywhere in Alaska.

There is housing in Alaska. It's not all bush villages here.

[SarisaSMouse]

Originally Posted by AKStafford

Happens quite often. These systems are often poorly maintained due to the lack of qualified maintenance personal. And they operate in harsh conditions. And when they go down, there's no back up.

I'm sorry to hear that. I get there not being back up, when a village is poor. There's a lot of money that flows through during fishing season. Where does it go? Harshness doesn't seem to scare off most Alaskans, to be honest. Both fishing and the oil industry are harsh, but a lot of people would give their right arm to get their foot in the door for those two. Is there something different?

I always assumed water treatment was a great job with great pay. I hope it wouldn't require an advanced degree, but I don't know. Does the background check screw up most people who want to apply, or no housing?

[SarisaSMouse]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

There is housing in Alaska. It's not all bush villages here.

The majority of the state is bush, though, not road system, right?

[HannahTravels]

Originally Posted by SarisaSMouse

How often do water crises happen in the bush, and what do bush communities do to assist each other when they happen? Or do they?

Where I live, and in some of the surrounding villages, the school district maintains/helps maintain some utilities. Everything goes slow out here though, so I'd imagine no matter who is in charge of it, it would be a long process.

Something else to think about too is that, on top of water crises, water quality can be quite poor to begin with. The water in my village is pretty...unsavory. We have to steam distill all of our water before we actually drink it, and we use filtered shower water because it's so hard on our skin, hair, and nails.