Kodiak is having its snowiest winter in 15 years. With all that white stuff piling up, crews have had to turn to unconventional snow dumps.
On a snowy day in February, crews from the City of Kodiak, the Kodiak Island Borough and various contractors were out clearing public streets and parking lots. They’ve been busy this season spending extra time on snow removal, like many communities around the state.
By the end of last month, Feb 28, Kodiak’s snow total for the winter was over 50 inches, as measured at the Kodiak Wastewater Treatment plant. Climatologist Rick Thoman, with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness, said that’s a lot compared to recent winters.
“This is the most snow in Kodiak since the very stormy and snowy winter of 2011 - 2012 when there was 95 inches of snow," Thoman said.
Also back in December, Kodiak also saw its highest monthly total snowfall since 2012.
The city’s Public Works Department has to clear that snow off the 25 miles of streets it maintains within city limits. So where does the city’s fleet of snow graders and dump trucks put all that snow?
“In a normal winter," Steve Wilson, the public works director for the City of Kodiak, said the city uses the snow dump next to the local wastewater treatment plant.
“But seems that we filled that up quite quick this year, and then moved to the library and filled that up," Wilson said.
Kodiak had so much snow, the public works department ran out of lots within city limits to fill. So Wilson said the city asked the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to dump snow in a different area this winter, under stringent guidelines.
“Before we had all this snow, I got permission from DEC to dump it in the ocean, off of Pier 2, and we did that for, I think a day," he said.
Dumping snow in the ocean is only allowed under emergency authorization because DEC says snow removed from roadways can contain trash, debris and pollutants that harm water quality. The department only allows dumping into the ocean in specific areas where the snow can properly mix with the water and prevent ice dams from forming.
Snow removal is not cheap. Deputy City Manager Josie Bahnke said via email that she can’t readily put a dollar figure on the running cost of snow removal so far this winter, because it’s one piece of a wider set of unplanned winter expenses that also includes things like water line breaks. But she said in heavy snow years like this one, snow removal tends to be $40,000 more than in low snow years.
As for the Kodiak Island Borough, snow removal for just the unusually snowy December cost $29,065 according to the borough’s engineering and facilities department.
And more snow hit Kodiak Island this past weekend. Based on the forecast from the National Weather Service going into the evening of March 20, Kodiak likely received another three to four inches of snow between Friday and Sunday.
