With US Senator Dan Sullivan’s help, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) has passed the US Senate, inching Nome closer to the possibility of an Arctic deep draft port.
The act will bring $1.4 billion dollars to new water infrastructure over the next five years. The funding is focused in three areas: infrastructure, subsistence harbors, and an Arctic deep draft port. Working with the Tribal Health Consortium, the act’s focus on infrastructure places grant money in villages that do not have basic drinking water or wastewater services. The money will also help communities whose water systems are below health standards.
The Army Corps of Engineers will conduct a feasibility study for an Arctic port. That study was put on hold after a period of instability, including an economic loss after Shell’s withdrawal from the Chukchi Sea. But Sen. Sullivan says this study will be look past economics. “National security, search and rescue, oil contamination clean-up: all of these things need to be factored in when the Corps is looking at the importance of these issues.”
Little Diomede will be given money to build a harbor. WRDA also allows small regional benefits to be taken into consideration for coastal communities looking to justify the construction of smaller subsistence harbors.
From this point, the bill goes on to the House, and if passed, will be signed into effect. Currently, more than 30 Alaskan communities do not have access to water or wastewater services.
