“The midpoint of the Anchor River king salmon run was extremely late. These fish are really having some odd, unprecedented run timing and behavior."
A Kenai Peninsula village is rapidly running out of water. Low snowpack and little rainfall has led Nanwalek to declare a water emergency.
Persistent high pressure over the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay has kept most storms well away from the lower Kenai Peninsula. At Homer, total rainfall June 1-August 16 was only 53% of normal, making this the driest since 2004. The City of Seldovia has issued a "City Water Conservation Notice" on August 20th. The notice doesn't ban any specific water use but requests residents make an effort to use less water by minimizing watering lawns and washing cars and to take shorter showers.
"Nanwalek was in an emergency drought, we had to have water flown in for 60 households."
"Jakolof Creek is dry almost all the way up to the switchbacks and continues to recede. The early run of red salmon may have made it to the lake, but that is probably the only run that has."
Large groups of loons are rarely observed in the summer on Homer's Beluga Lake. Over a dozen were observed calling back and forth on Beluga Lake.
Tube-Dwelling Worms on Seldovia Beach
Squid are occasionally found in the area, but not very often.
But at least there is a stream...
Drought and high temperatures have dried the creek and caused thousands of pink salmon and Dolly Varden to die before they could spawn. The event raises questions about vulnerability of area salmon streams to climate change, and for local residents food security.
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