Background
Newtok, home to approximately 400 residents, is located on the Ninglick River in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region. It is north of Nelson Island and 94 miles northwest of Bethel. Indigenous populations have inhabited Newtok for at least 2,000 years; they are known as the Qaluyaarmiut people. The Qaluyaarmiut people are avid fishermen and live a traditional Yup’ik Eskimo subsistence lifestyle.
The village’s proximity to the shoreline is proving to be hazardous. Recent erosion rates in Newtok have averaged 90 feet per year and the community experienced major floods in September 2005 and February 2006. A shoreline erosion map based on historic shorelines in maps and aerial photos indicates that the Ninglick River has eroded from 36 to 83 feet per year upstream; the average rate of erosion occurring near Newtok from 1954 to 2003 was measured to be 68 feet per year. A 1983 study found that the main variables affecting erosion of the bank of the Ninglick River include a combination of temperature changes, wave action, and river currents. As a result, fall storms have caused waters to surge through the Ninglick River and inundate the town of Newtok. Also, the increased erosion rate altered the hydrology of the river from quick moving to more slough-like. Historically, Newtok discharged their untreated sewage into the Ninglick River but with the change in hydrology, the disposed waste had no place to go, causing a public health hazard.
Newtok is also being threatened by thawing permafrost and decreased sea ice that once protected the coastal village against wave erosion. As such, the Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet Immediate Action Workgroup (IWA) focused part of its work on Newtok. In 2007, the IWA recommended that a suite of emergency response plans be developed to identify the most immediate and cost-effective ways to reduce the community’s vulnerability. These emergency response measures have been very important for Newtok as community members wait for the relocation process to finish. In 2010, Newtok completed evacuation, emergency operations, and continuity of operations plans to guide emergency response and recovery for the community. Newtok’s local hazard mitigation plan, which integrates climate change impacts and responses, was updated in 2015.
Implementation
In 1994, the Newtok Traditional Council began to consider relocating the village due to ongoing erosion problems. The Council evaluated six potential sites and settled on a location at the north end of Nelson Island called Mertarvik, a site managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. In 1996, the Newtok Native Corporation authorized the negotiation of a land exchange within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. By 2003, after much lobbying and legal counsel, the Service agreed to exchange land with the Newtok Native Corporation. Three reports were prepared during the early planning efforts: Newtok Background for Relocation Report, Preliminary Geotechnical Overview, and the Newtok Transportation Plan.
In 2006, the Newtok Planning Group was formed and the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development’s Division of Community Advocacy began to work with the Newtok Native Corporation to facilitate the relocation of Newtok to the Mertarvik site. First, they attained an $800,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration to build a multi-use marine support facility (e.g., barge ramp, dock and staging area). The Newtok Traditional Council was awarded a grant from the Denali Commission to develop a community, water, and sewage layout plan for the new village site. In sum, moving Newtok to its new location will cost an estimated $80–130 million, about $2 million per household.
Citation
Feifel, K. & Gregg, R. M. (2021). Relocating the Village of Newtok, Alaska due to Coastal Erosion [Case study on a project of the Newtok Planning Group]. Version 2.0. Product of EcoAdapt’s State of Adaptation Program. (Last updated October 2021)
This case study was originally published on the EcoAdapt Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange.
