The U.S. Geological Survey has the threefold responsibility along the proposed route of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS): to investigate possible hydroloqic hazards to the pipeline, to investigate possible impacts of the pipeline on water resources, and to develop a better understanding of Arctic hydrology. Because the proposed pipeline route lies within many stream channels, one of the obvious hydrologic hazards is channel erosion. It was considered a major hazard in a report by Hadley (1969) after a short reconnaissance of the proposed pipeline route and also in a national assessment of water resources by the Water Resources Council (1968). The U.S. Department of Interior has also recognized the channel erosion problems in considering the environmental impacts of TAPS and has stipulated conditions for their control (U.S. Dept. of Interior, 1972a, b). The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (APSC), who would build and operate TAPS, has described methods for complying with the Department of Interior stipulations for channel and erosion control (APSC, 1971).
Additional publication details
USGS Unnumbered Series
Channel erosion surveys along proposed TAPS route, Alaska, July 1971