Multiple buildings and homes, including the Point Lay clinic, were without water. The water main break was a result of the water main sinking down further into the permafrost.
Russell Cameron observes:
Multiple buildings and homes, including the Point Lay clinic, were without water on 5/4/2021. The water shortage was a result of a water main break. The break was a result of the water main sinking down further into the permafrost. In the photos, you can see how the fire hydrant is actually below ground level as workers work even deeper to access the valves.
Vladimir Romanovsky with the UAF Permafrost Laboratory writes:
Underground water and sewer pipe systems may not be sustainable in the areas of ice-rich permafrost locations such as in the Point Lay area. Recent increase in permafrost temperatures made permafrost vulnerable to this impact even in the areas of previously cold and continuous permafrost.
LEO Network Editor Comments:
Water systems in Point Lay and other communities in the North Slope Borough have been experiencing impacts on underground infrastructure including water and sewer lines. The permafrost in the area has been highly impacted in the past decade by thawing resulting in the kinds of impacts that Russell described seeing in Point Lay. The result on community services include damage and disruption to health critical services. Other potential impacts can include erosion and flooding.
In 2013, ANTHC and the North Slope Borough Health Department performed a climate change health assessment in Wainwright, another North Slope community located 94 miles north of Point Lay. Like Point Lay, Wainwright is coastal, built on a hill above the the Chukchi Sea. At the time Wainwright was experiencing similar problems with their water system; thawing ground, sinking underground pipes, line breaks and flooding. As described by Matt Dunn with the NSB Planning Department, “the communities were set up as direct bury pipe systems in the 1980s and 1990s. We thought that the permafrost was stable. That did not turn out to be accurate.”
Indeed as recently as 2009, the All Hazards Mitigation Plan described the risk of thawing as low, because the permafrost was classified as 'continuous'. According the the Comprehensive Plan (2017), a large number of leaks have been occurring because of subsidence since 2005. In another set back, Fresh Water Lake breached into the Kokolik River and drained during the summer of 2016 (see attached article). During a community planning process in August of 2016, addressing problems with the water system was listed as a top priority, as was permafrost. For more information see the attached Point Lay Comprehensive Plan, which outlines plans to address water and sewer system related problems. Mike Brubaker, Editor
Point Lay, Alaska
Observations From Members 
