Erosion Could Drain Lake at Anytime

Observation We have got this Goldfish Lake. If you look at it from the air it has a little tail like a goldfish. But we are just about ready to lose it. It has been a great resource for us. Subsistence duck hunting. The kids play in the lake. It will be sad to see it go. But it is close to the Bering Sea coast and in two areas it is getting very thin. We have been losing an average of 30 feet per year. You can see the water now seeping through on the beach side. When it goes, we will not only lose the lake, but also the road that provides access to the old village of Meshik, and access to subsistence areas and the lagoon which has traditionally been used as safe harbor and boat launch.

LEO says: LEO Network in partnership with the Native Village of Port Heiden, Bristol Bay Native Association, the State of Alaska Coastal Hazards Program, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks are providing assistance to Port Heiden to monitor the erosion, coastal and lake change, and to perform an assessment of climate change impacts. A video by LEO Network describes the situation and provides comments by local residents including the tribal government environmental manager, and scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. See the YouTube video – Moving Meshik: The old village of Port Heiden (Meshik) is being lost to erosion.

The purpose is to understand climate change impacts and to develop adaptation plans. (Filmed by Mike Brubaker, May 2017)