BRIEF DESCRIPTION

 

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking comments on the draft 2022 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report. DEC is proposing changes to existing waterbody classifications, including identifying healthy waters and removing one water from the impaired list.

 

 

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking comments on the draft 2022 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report. Every two years, DEC is required to report on the condition of Alaska’s waters according to the federal Clean Water Act. This report describes to Alaskans the health of Alaska’s waters and includes the list of impaired (polluted) waters. The Integrated Report also helps the State prioritize waters for appropriate action such as data gathering, watershed protections, and restoration of impaired waters.  

 

The draft 2022 Integrated Report reflects changes to previous years’ reports. DEC is proposing a number of changes to existing waterbody classifications, including identifying healthy waters and removing one water from the impaired list where recent data shows the water to be healthy. Supporting documents, public meeting information, and the full list of waters can be found at the DEC Integrated Report website: https://dec.alaska.gov/water/water-quality/integrated-report/ . A public meeting will be held virtually on January 18, 2022, from 4-6:00pm, instructions for attending the public meeting remotely can be found on the DEC Integrated Report website. Due to public health and safety concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, there will not be in-person attendance to the meeting.  

 

Comments relevant to the draft 2022 Integrated Report may be submitted electronically via DEC’s public notice site at  https://water.alaskadec.commentinput.com/?id=usPRa If you are unable to submit comments via the DEC public notice website, you may submit them by mail to Amber Bethe at 555 Cordova St., Anchorage, AK 99501, or e-mail to amber.bethe@alaska.gov . Comments must be received by close of public comments period at 11:59 p.m. Alaska time on February 6, 2022.  

 

If you are a person with a disability who needs a special accommodation to participate in this process, please contact Brian Blessington at (907) 269-7660 or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973 /TTY or dial 711 no later than January 17, 2022 to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.  

 

January 4, 2022                                                            

/s/

Jason W. Brune

Commissioner