Alaska Ratings
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Indicator Type |
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Info |
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Status |
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Beach Access |
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5 |
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5 |
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Water Quality |
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2* |
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6**
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Beach Erosion |
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3 |
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- |
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Erosion Response |
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- |
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4 |
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Beach Fill |
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3 |
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- |
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Shoreline Structures |
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3 |
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6 |
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Beach Ecology |
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4 |
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- |
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Surfing Areas |
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2
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8
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Website |
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5
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- |
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*Surfrider recognizes that there are limited numbers of people who swim, surf, dive or otherwise recreate in the ocean in Alaska. However, there is some ocean use by hearty surfers and others. At a minimum, Surfrider would like to see some testing to establish baseline levels and whether problem areas exist.
**Since the water quality monitoring program in Alaska just began on a limited basis in 2007, the recreational water quality is largely unknown.
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Alaska
Summary
Alaska's immense size and small, dispersed coastal management staff make coastal management a challenge. Lack of both information and funding is an impediment to addressing coastal access needs, erosion problems, and water quality concerns. In addition to the urban runoff problems experienced by most coastal cities, water quality impairment in Alaska is also caused by large scale land-based operations such as the timber and mining industries and offshore sources including the oil and gas industry and cruise ships. There is only a limited recreational water quality testing program. Despite a high percentage of publicly owned coastal lands, coastal access is limited or not well publicized in many areas.
Indicators
(+) NOAA's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) approved Alaska's amended Coastal Management Program in December 2005.
(+) Approximately 87% of Alaska's shoreline is publicly owned
(0) Alaska has 6,640 miles of open ocean coastline
(0) Eighty-five percent of the state's population lives within coastal counties
(0) Alaska has a tremendous diversity of water resources, including 365,000 miles of rivers and streams, at least 170 million acres of wetlands, more than a million lakes larger than five acres, and 44,226 miles of coastal shoreline waters.
(0) A limited surf zone water quality monitoring program began to be implemented in Alaska during Summer 2007.
(-) In a 2009 report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 178 Alaska communities were found to have reported erosion problems. 26 communities were designated “Priority Action Communities” — indicating that they should be considered for immediate action by either initiating an evaluation of potential solutions or continuing with ongoing efforts to manage erosion.
(-) On average, Alaska's coastline is eroding at a rate of 8 feet per year, and this rate could increase in areas where sea level rise exceeds the rate of isostatic rebound.
(-) Alaska has only about one public access site for every 12 miles of shoreline
Victories
For a list of Surfrider Foundation's latest coastal victories, go here.
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