[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 89 (Wednesday, June 29, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7639-S7640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Stevens):
  S. 1338. A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Geological 
Survey, to conduct a study on groundwater resources in the State of 
Alaska, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a measure of 
benefit to my home State of Alaska, the Alaska Water Resources Act of 
2005. The importance of water resource data collection to a State that 
has a resource-based economy cannot be overstated. Economic development 
is predicated on access to an adequate water supply, and in my State 
there is inadequate hydrologic data upon which to secure both economic 
development and the health and welfare of Alaskan citizens.
  Alaska is an amazing State from a hydrological viewpoint. It is home 
to more than 3 million lakes--only about 100 being larger than 10 
square miles--more than 12,000 rivers and uncounted thousands of 
streams, creeks and ponds. Together these water bodies hold about one-
third of all the fresh water found in the United States.
  Alaska is home to a number of large rivers. The Yukon, which 
originates in western Canada, runs 1,400 miles--discharging from 25,000 
cubic feet of water per second in early spring to more than 600,000 
cubic feet per second in May during the spring thaw. The Yukon drains 
roughly 330,000 square miles of Alaska and Canada, about one-third of 
the State. Besides the Yukon, Alaska is home to nine other major rivers 
and creeks all running more than 300 miles in length: the Porcupine, 
Koyukuk, Kuskokwim, Tanana, Innoko, Colville, Noatak, Kobuk and Birch 
Creek.
  Alaska residents from early spring to fall face substantial flood 
threats, from spring flooding caused by breakup and ice damming to 
fall's heavy rains, but the State has fewer than 100 stream gaging 
stations operated by the U.S. Geological Survey--Alaska having less 
than 10 percent of the stream flow information that is taken for 
granted by all other States in the Nation. Alaska averages one working 
gage for each 10,000 square miles, while, as an example, Pacific 
Northwest States average one gage for each 365 square miles. To 
emphasize the lack of data now available for Alaska, I would point out 
that to equal the stream gage density of the Pacific Northwest States, 
my State would need to have over 1,600 total gage sites.
  Alaska also supports the Nation's least modern and undeveloped 
potable water distribution system. Water for Alaska towns outside of 
the more densely populated ``Railbelt'' comes predominately from 
surface water sources Surface water sources often result in supply/
storage problems since these surface sources freeze and are unavailable 
for up to half the year. The chances for water-borne contaminants to 
affect potable water supplies, including fecal matter from Alaska's 
plentiful wildlife populations, human waste from inadequate or 
nonexistent sewage treatment facilities, and natural mineral deposits 
(natural arsenic levels in mineralized zone creeks frequently exceeding 
EPA standards) are present and increasing. In areas that predominately 
depend on groundwater sources, such as the ``Railbelt,'' there is only 
very limited knowledge of the nature and extent of the aquifers that 
support those critical groundwater supplies. Extensive permafrost 
further complicates the potential for adverse impacts to Alaska. In 
portions of Southcentral Alaska where there is a dependence on 
groundwater as the source for an adequate healthy water supply, the 
availability of that supply is starting to be in jeopardy. Allocations 
of water need to be based on scientific data, and the data needed upon 
which the allocations are made is unavailable. Users of water are only 
beginning to realize the potential conflicts that may arise, and the 
limits on future economic development that may result from inadequate 
knowledge of the water resource, particularly in the Matanuska-Susitna 
Borough, on the Kenai Peninsula and to a lesser extent in portions of 
the Municipality of Anchorage where groundwater provided by wells is a 
crucial part of the State's water distribution system and where there 
is little known about the size, capacity, extent and recharge 
capability of the aquifers that these wells tap.
  Alaska, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental 
Conservation, still has some 16,000 homes in 71 generally Native 
villages not being served by piped water or enclosed water haul 
systems. There are still 55 villages in Alaska where up to 29 percent 
of the residents are not served by sanitary water systems, with more 
than 60 percent of residents not being served in 16 villages. Even 
though since Statehood the State and Federal governments have spent 
$1.3 billion on rural water-sanitation system improvements in Alaska, 
the state has an estimated need for nearly $650 million in

[[Page S7640]]

additional funding to complete installation of a modern water-
sanitation system.
  Planning and engineering for those locations cannot be completed 
without better information as to the availability and extent of supply 
of water and better analysis of new technologies that could be used for 
water system installations, including possible desalination for some 
island and coastal communities.
  For all these reasons, today I am introducing legislation authorizing 
the Department of the Interior's Commissioner of Reclamation and the 
Director of the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a series of water 
resource studies in Alaska. The studies will include a survey of water 
treatment needs and technologies including desalination treatment, 
which may be applicable to the water resources development in Alaska. 
The study will review the need for enhancement of the National 
Streamflow Information Program administered by the U.S. Geological 
Survey. The Streamflow review will determine whether more stream gaging 
stations are necessary for flood forecasting, aiding resource 
extraction, determining the risk to the state's transportation system 
and for wildfire management. Groundwater resources will also be further 
evaluated and documented to determine the availability of water, the 
quality of that groundwater, and the extent of the aquifers in urban 
areas.
  This type of study, already conducted for most all other Sates in the 
Nation, should help Alaska better plan and design water systems and 
transportation infrastructure and also better prepare for floods and 
summer wildfires.
  There is literally ``water, water everywhere'' in Alaska, but too 
often, especially in communities such as Ketchikan that take water from 
surface sources, or the rapidly growing Mat-Su Valley, there may be 
less water to drink during unusually dry summers, There is a real and 
growing problem of maintaining an adequate supply of sufficient, pure 
water. This problem is only going to grow with a growing population and 
economy. This bill is designed to provide more information to help 
communities plan for future water needs and to help State officials 
plan for flood and fire safety concerns and economic development.
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