Unalaska, AK – This year's heavy snowfall had a heavy impact on the river bank of Iliuliuk Creek. The consistent, sometimes very heavy snowfall meant that the roads crews had to frequently plow all of the roads in town and find some place to dump the snow. In Old Town, that meant putting large piles of snow that were laced with gravel and silt on the river banks. Science teacher and long-time resident Steven Gregory said that when the snow melted, the left over gravel and silt had a very negative impact on the riparian habitat and salmon spawning grounds.

"As far as the gravel covering the river banks, what I notice happens is that it eventually finds its way into the spawning beds and the angular gravel is not the right type of gravel that the fish need to be able to dig their nests. It's hard for them to move the angular pieces around because they fit so well together, like pieces of a puzzle."

The silt then compounds the problem, he explained. "So what happens is the silt works with the angular gravel and basically acts like mortar and holds those pieces of gravel together. It makes it very difficult for the salmon to get in between the rocks for shelter. It makes it hard for the eggs to get enough oxygen when they are developing underneath the gravel. And then when it's time for the fish to actually emerge from the gravel in the spring and there's a layer of silt there or gravel blocking their exit out then of course the fish are going to have problems, too."

The piles of snow, gravel and silt also kill the salmonberry bushes that grow on the creek banks. When the leaves fall from those bushes, they provide essential nutrients for the creek. Gregory said he and others in the community have noticed the gradual changes over the past few years.

"I've been in the community for 35 years now and I've seen a lot of changes in this river. But what has happened over the past nine or ten years has been a big deal. The impacts seem to be getting worse and worse as time goes by," he said. "I'm not out here to point fingers at any one group or any one agency, I would just like people to be more aware of this tremendous resource we have in the community and to do anything they can to try to preserve it and enhance it."

The Department of Public Works is trying to respond to the problem. The director, Nancy Peterson, said her colleagues are working with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game to figure out a solution. They will be removing as much of the gravel from the banks as possible then covering the area with a thick black, fabric-like material to prevent the silt from washing into the river. They will primarily be working in the heavily impacted areas, such as near the pedestrian bridge in Old Town.

Peterson said they are also trying to come up with a plan for next winter to minimize the impact. The problem is that in that part of town, they need to clear the roads quickly to allow for emergency access, but they don't have many places to put snow if it piles up. They will try to haul it away more quickly next year if possible.

Gregory, who runs the salmon hatchery with his students to help maintain the health of the local salmon stock, said protecting the creek from all types of pollutants, such as oil and gas from vehicles, is necessary to maintain one of the town's most valuable resources.

"The salmon run in this stream has sustained people on this island, in this community here for literally thousands of years. It's not just the salmon, it's the other resources as well but the salmon's a big part of that. And even today the subsistence salmon harvest is very important Not everybody has a boat and can go to Wislow or some of the other watersheds and get salmon."

Picking the berries along the creek is a good subsistence activity as well. Gregory said picking the salmon berries doesn't hurt the plants or the river as long as you don't trample the bushes or rip up plants and cause erosion.