National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Water Resources Division Natural Resource Program Center Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR-2005/341 WATER RESOURCES INFORMATION AND ISSUES OVERVIEW REPORT DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE ALASKA The National Park Service Water Resources Division is responsible for providing water resources management policy and guidelines, planning, technical assistance, training, and operational support to units of the National Park System. Program areas include water rights, water resources planning, regulatory guidance and review, hydrology, water quality, watershed management, watershed studies, and aquatic ecology. Technical Reports The National Park Service disseminates the results of biological, physical, and social research through the Natural Resources Technical Report Series. Natural resources inventories and monitoring activities, scientific literature reviews, bibliographies, and proceedings of technical workshops and conferences are also disseminated through this series. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Copies of this report are available from the following: National Park Service (970) 225-3500 Water Resources Division 1201 Oak Ridge Drive, Suite 250 Fort Collins, CO 80525 National Park Service (303) 969-2130 Technical Information Center Denver Service Center P.O. Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-0287 2 Water Resources Information and Issues Overview Report Denali National Park and Preserve Alaska Prepared by: The Mangi Environmental Group McLean, Virginia Technical Report NPS/NRWRD/NRTR- 2005/341 August 2005 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service i ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ITEM PAGE List of Tables ................................................................................................................................v List of Figures..............................................................................................................................vi Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................................................vii SECTION 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................. 1-1 SECTION 2.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF REPORT .......................................................................... 2-1 2.2 WATER RESOURCES PLANNING FRAMEWORK..................................................... 2-2 2.3 ORGANIZATION OF REPORT ................................................................................... 2-3 SECTION 3.0 LEGISLATION, MANAGEMENT, AND COORDINATION ...................3-1 3.1 ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVATION ACT (ANILCA) ........3-1 3.2 FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS ...............................................................3-2 3.3 STATE OF ALASKA LAWS AND REGULATIONS ................................................3-6 3.4 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND DIRECTOR’S ORDERS (DO’S) ...............................................................................................3-8 3.4.1 Director’s Orders and Procedural Manuals .............................................3-9 3.5 PARK MANAGEMENT.....................................................................................3-11 3.5.1 Park Management Plans..........................................................................3-11 3.6 MINING LAWS AND MANAGEMENT...............................................................3-14 3.7 NAVIGABILITY...............................................................................................3-15 3.8 WATER RIGHTS .............................................................................................3-15 3.8.1 State Appropriative Water Rights ............................................................3-15 3.8.2 State In-Stream Flow Reservations..........................................................3-16 3.8.3 Federal Reserved Water Rights ...............................................................3-16 SECTION 4.0 CHARACTERIZATION ................................................................................4-1 4.1 PARK LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION.....................................................................4-1 4.2 PHYSICAL RESOURCES ...........................................................................................4-3 4.2.1 Climate.......................................................................................................4-3 General Patterns .......................................................................................4-3 DENA Observations.................................................................................4-5 4.2.2 Physiographic Regions ..............................................................................4-5 4.2.3 Geology......................................................................................................4-7 4.2.4 Soils............................................................................................................4-8 4.2.5 Hydrology ................................................................................................4-10 Surface Water.........................................................................................4-10 Groundwater...........................................................................................4-30 iii 4.2.6 Water Quality...........................................................................................4-32 Baseline Water Quality Inventory and Analysis...................................4-34 4.2.7 Air Quality ...............................................................................................4-35 Air Quality Monitoring Programs.........................................................4-36 4.3 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES .............................................................................. 4-38 4.3.1 Flora ........................................................................................................4-38 Lowlands/Forested Zone.......................................................................4-39 Subalpine Zone......................................................................................4-40 Alpine Zone...........................................................................................4-40 Threatened and Endangered Species.....................................................4-41 Exotic Plant Species..............................................................................4-41 4.3.2 Fauna .......................................................................................................4-42 Fish........................................................................................................4-42 Benthic Macroinvertebrates ..................................................................4-44 Amphibians ...........................................................................................4-45 Mammals...............................................................................................4-46 Birds ......................................................................................................4-47 4.4 SOCIOECONOMIC RESOURCES ....................................................................... 4-49 4.4.1 Recreation................................................................................................4-49 4.4.2 Infrastructure ...........................................................................................4-52 Facilities/Development..........................................................................4-52 Roads/Vehicular Transportation ...........................................................4-57 Maintained Airstrips and Other Landings.............................................4-61 4.4.3 Subsistence Uses ......................................................................................4-63 4.4.4 Mining......................................................................................................4-64 4.4.5 Land Ownership.......................................................................................4-66 Land Ownership within DENA.............................................................4-66 Surrounding Land Ownership ...............................................................4-68 SECTION 5.0 WATER RESOURCE ISSUES ......................................................................5-1 5.1 INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT-RELATED ISSUES.................................5-2 5.2 HYDROLOGIC HAZARD-RELATED ISSUES ..........................................................5-19 5.3 MINING-RELATED ISSUES ....................................................................................5-23 5.4 SUBSISTENCE USE-RELATED ISSUES ..................................................................5-34 5.5 RECREATION-RELATED ISSUES ...........................................................................5-38 5.6 NAVIGABLE WATERS-RELATED ISSUES.............................................................5-48 5.7 WATER RIGHTS RELATED ISSUES .......................................................................5-50 5.8 CLIMATE CHANGE-RELATED ISSUES..................................................................5-51 SECTION 6.0 BASELINE INVENTORY AND MONITORING........................................6-1 REFERENCES CITED........................................................................................................REF-1