School officials and residents in Oscarville are scrambling after the town's well stopped working earlier this week. The well at the school was the village's only reliable source of drinking water until its casing collapsed on Wednesday, according to Lower Kuskokwim School District Superintendent Daniel Walker.
Another well in the village stopped working several years ago. Walker said that with classes set to begin next week, the school plans to haul water from a nearby village. About 70 people live in Oscarville, which is about 5 miles south of Bethel.
"The village of Napaskiak is right across the river and we have a 500-gallon container that fits in a boat, and they will take the water from Napaskiak to Oscarville for the short term," Walker said.
The school district is also talking to a drilling contractor, currently in Bethel, about the possibility of sinking a new well. But even if the school's well is re-drilled, the residents of Oscarville might still be searching for solutions to their long-term water problems.
"Like with any school in Western Alaska, the Oscarville school serves as a community center," Michael Roberts, a developer for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. "But it has never been a watering point where people can take it to their homes. They could go there and use the restroom and wash and drink, but the main method of water delivery has been more traditional means."
Roberts said residents usually collect rainwater in the summer and cut ice from nearby lakes and streams for water in winter.
In warmer months, residents put large barrels under their gutters to collect rainwater streaming off their roofs. Sometimes the amount of rain a person can collect depends on how big their roof is.
"I have a small house, so I can't catch a lot of water for my family," said Oscarville Tribal Administrator Michael Stevens. "But my mom has a big house and she can catch 10 gallons. So people are sharing water."
Oscarville has been the focus of several federal agencies as they try to find ways to work together to address problems in rural Alaska. One of the coordinators of that effort said she hopes the water problem at the Oscarville school can be an opportunity to find a solution that works for the entire village.
"This is another one of those emergency situations that we would like to see agencies use a holistic approach and not a band-aid that works for just one time," said Jackie Schaeffer, a project management assistant at WHPacific, a company assigned to help coordinate federal efforts in rural Alaska.
But with the start of classes just a few days way, the school district has more pressing concerns.
"We have a more immediate problem of making sure we have water for the school," Walker said. "And while (a well that serves everyone in Oscarville) may be a long-term solution, time is of the essence right now for us getting a solution in place."