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Chefornak Village seeks assistance with water and wastewater woes

Environmental Project Highlight

Where: Chefornak, Alaska

Problem: Water and access for wastewater disposal

Solution: Assist with funding applications

Chefornak, a community of 475 located on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is a traditional Yup'ik Eskimo community where village residents practice a subsistence lifestyle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation are funding improvements to the community water system and wastewater improvements are planned. Water improvements will include a surface water treatment plant and storage, but residents will still have to haul water from one of 12 locations throughout the village. Without running water, residents also must haul wastewater in “honey buckets” to the new treatment facility which will be constructed soon. However, the funding for the “system” improvements could not fund the access route for village residents to get to the treatment works. 

RCAC evaluated the village’s transportation problems with solid waste and wastewater disposal. We submitted a Community Development Block Grant application which rebuilt the boardwalk that is a key route for residents to access fresh water and dispose of waste. Staff is now working on a USDA Community Facility application to leverage funds from the Denali Commission to extend the boardwalk to the access to the proposed new waste station and to build a washeteria (a uniquely Alaskan village place to dump sewage, obtain fresh water and do laundry).

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