Arctic Outlook is an effort to unify and inform the wide array of water management and wastewater management organizations and professionals within the North Star Borough. As fresh water becomes an increasingly critical resource, coordination and 'community memory' of water management resources and best practices becomes correspondingly valuable.
Numerous agencies are involved in the water and wastewater processes across Alaska, including Village Safe Water (VSW), Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), American Water Works Association (AWWA), Alaska Water Wastewater Management Association (AWWMA), etc. Each of these agencies has programs such as Tribal Utility Support (TUS), Drinking Water Program (DW), Sanitary Survey Program (SS), Solid Waste Program (SW), Wastewater Program (WW), Rural Utility Business Advisor Program (RUBA), etc.
New operators, utility managers, and professionals are often not introduced to the aforementioned agencies or programs until there is an emergency or critical need. These new professionals subsequently do not know about the available resources or who to reach out to when they need help.
The Arctic Outlook website will identify where resources can be accessed and describe the capabilities of agencies and their programs in detail. In addition to compiling the existing resources, Arctic Outlook will also develop new courses to help operators learn the skills they need to sample their water, submit reports to the state, and other important functions.
You can support the work of Arctic Outlook with a visit to our donation page.
