Alaskans experiencing fires, little rain and drought conditions

[Judi Lynn]

BY KAREN GRAHAM SEP 7, 2019 IN ENVIRONMENT

Anchorage - In one Alaska village, officials are barging in jugs of water and shutting off the public water supply 12 hours each day. In another, automatic flush toilets have been switched to manual flushing, and restaurants are serving meals on paper plates.

Precipitation totals this past spring were well below normal over British Columbia, a large part of the NT, Yukon, southeast Alaska, and the western Aleutian Islands, according to Drought.gov's latest quarterly report.

Added to the sparse spring rainfall, most of Alaska, Yukon, the western portion of the Northwest Territories (NT) and northern British Columbia (BC) were significantly warmer than normal during this past spring, with some areas in Yukon, and the NT recording near-record temperatures.

Alaska's hot, dry summer has led to extreme measures for the severe drought conditions being experienced by the Native communities of Nanwalek and Seldovia in the Kenai Peninsula, prompting regional officials to declare a disaster declaration. The hot, dry conditions have also been exacerbated by wildfires that are still burning.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/alaskans-experiencing-little-rain-and-drought-conditions/article/557418#ixzz5zAi9CA6b