Erosion is forcing Alaska to move the Noatak airport two miles west

Alaska is preparing to move the Noatak airport two miles west, because the river has closed to within about 160 feet of the apron — and the airport is the village's only reliable link for freight, fuel and medical travel.

Erosion along the Noatak River has been documented for years and has accelerated more recently, leaving less than 300 feet between the water and the runway. State studies dating back to 2003 concluded it will continue for the foreseeable future, and in an Army Corps of Engineers report, the Noatak tribal administrator pointed to the cause — melting permafrost. The continued erosion, the state Department of Transportation said, "jeopardizes the existing airport and therefore also jeopardizes the Noatak community which relies on safe and reliable air transportation service."

The fix is a full replacement. DOT&PF plans a new airport about two miles west of the community — a 4,000-foot runway, taxiway, apron and a roughly two-mile access road, on about 323 acres — at an estimated cost of $80 million to $90 million. Construction is projected from 2026 through 2028, with completion set for 2030. The state is working through the permits; as one DOT&PF official put it last fall, the region was "rapidly working on that project."