Water resources data of the Seward area, Alaska

Favorable geohydrologic conditions in the Seward area provide several choices for developing additional water supplies. Abundant stream runoff and the prospects for expanded well-field development in the Jap Creek alluvial fan, as well as other similar fans, allow a selection of future water sources based on factors other than the availability of the natural resource. Although water in both streams and deep aquifers is of good potable quality, ground water has the inherent advantages of being free of suspended sediment, of being warmer during winter months, and of being less vulnerable to pollution. Shallow infiltration galleries constructed along the alluvial-fan reaches of some streams should provide large volumes of water for public supply.

A potential exists at Seward for serious flooding of the alluvial fans by the major streams, for coastal flooding by bay waters resulting from storm-driven waves or tsunamis, and for pollution of shallow ground water by onsite sewage disposal.