Much of Southeast Alaska is powered by hydroelectricity…and experiencing drought conditions.  Limited precipitation and a low snowpack have communities like Ketchikan and Prince of Wales turning to diesel, a dirtier and more expensive source of power. But hydropower in the Upper Lynn Canal is secure. 

The National Weather Service classifies the Upper LYnn Canal as “abnormally dry” this year But that is unlikely to leave the region scrambling for hydroelectric alternatives anytime soon.

Alaska Power and Telephone manages local hydropower resources. Skagway manager Darren Belisle says snowpack does affect our hydropower reservoirs, but not in a big way.

“I would say a little bit but not as much as further south. We’re typically a drier area anyway. The drought hasn’t got us real bad. I lot of the hydro is glacial fed,” he said.

Since the majority of local hydroelectric resources are glacier fed, this region’s energy resource is more resilient in times of drought. Hydroelectric energy in the Upper Lynn Canal comes from Skagway and is shared with Haines through an underwater line.

“Up here we do have some white-topped mountains still so and I think we have more than last year. That snow pack does definitely  help with filling the lake for our hydropower, but like I say, we’re not quite as dire as Juneau and further south,” said Belisle.

Drinking water reservoirs in Haines are not glacier fed. Haines saw a record low precipitation last year: only about 30 inches. The average is 48. Aaron Jacobs is the Area Hydrologist with National Weather Service in Juneau.

“At least in the last ten years we have seen two very dry water years and when you start seeing these dry conditions happen more often than not, then they could have an impact on ecosystems and then also societal impacts from higher electrical costs or water restrictions and stuff like that,” he said.

The effects of dry years are cumulative. If you can’t make up water from previous drought , continued dry weather compounds the effects. Jacobs says conditions are getting warmer and wetter in Southeast, but warmer and wetter isn’t always good for water storage.

“A byproduct of a warming environment is you don’t have as much snowpack,” he said. “Then you don’t have as much storage for water for when you have these dry periods… A lot of the water companies or hydroelectric power, they depend on the snowpack to replenish what was used in wintertime.”

There are no drought classification markers specific to Southeast Alaska. Jacobs says conditions are hard to measure in Southeast because in a rainforest traditional drought measurements don’t apply.

Drought intensity is usually defined by social impacts. In the lower 48 those impacts are often agricultural. Local markers are more likely to be fish returns, forest health, and hydroelectric sufficiency. The National Weather Service will have a meeting to discuss local drought classifications next month.