Alaska’s coastline has long lacked the water-level information needed to support navigation, coastal hazard planning, storm-surge modeling, and engineering. Through the Alaska Water Level Watch (AWLW) program, AOOS supports the maintenance of critical water-level stations, helping sustain long-term investments and continue closing data gaps along Alaska’s coast. Data from these stations are freely available to the public through the AWLW data portal, with additional tools and information on the AWLW website.
Since joining AOOS as AWLW Coordinator in 2025, Taylor Borgfeldt has led the continued growth of AWLW efforts across Alaska this year, including several initiatives highlighted below.
Photo of the Dillingham water level station and corresponding solar panel. Photo courtesy of JOA Surveys.
Dillingham site maintenance
In May, AOOS contracted JOA Surveys, LLC (JOA Surveys) for annual maintenance of the Dillingham water level station. Established in 2021 through a collaboration between the University of Alaska, Alaska Sea Grant, and the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, the station now fills a long-standing monitoring gap in the Bristol Bay region.
The Dillingham station utilizes two different technologies — a bubbler gauge and a radar gauge. The data for both sensors is viewable on the same station page by toggling the drop down menu above the time series plot. Dillingham is a challenging site for monitoring, with spring tides that sometimes leave the area dry and winter ice that can block radar measurements. To ensure reliable, long-term data and reduce the chance of gaps, JOA Surveys installed the gauges together on the seawall at the All Tides/City Dock. Nevertheless, AWLW advises that data collected from October through April be carefully verified to ensure accuracy.
During their May 2025 visit, the JOA Surveys team performed routine maintenance to ensure the instruments continue providing accurate data. This included checking the sensors’ software, inspecting equipment for wear or damage, managing cables, and making sure the site remains safe and secure. For the bubbler sensor, they fixed a small air leak, and for the radar sensor, they replaced an old cable and added a new splice to improve reliability and protection.
Hoonah and Petersburg
Hoonah community members along with AOOS staff and JOA Surveys staff following a community discussion of the newly installed instrument and the data that will be collected. Photo credit: Taylor Borgfeldt.
In October, Carol and Taylor traveled to Hoonah and Petersburg with JOA Surveys staff Julia Mickley and Peter Oswald to perform a site visit and do outreach for upcoming water level installations. AOOS coordinated meetings with community members to share information about the installation plans and how to access the data, provide resources available through AWLW and AOOS, and to have conversations about water level work and other potential AOOS observing activities in these communities. JOA Surveys installed the water level sensors that AOOS purchased, and the Hoonah station page and Petersburg station pages are now live.
Dashboards for Western Alaska
During the ex-Typhoon Halong storm surge, AWLW participated in the Typhoon Halong Post-Storm Data Collection group, providing information on installed assets, communicating with partners on the status of assets during the storm, and compiling recorded water levels.
Additionally, AWLW developed several data views within the AWLW portal to improve access to the relevant water level and webcam information available from the AOOS portals. The data views linked below, along with the additional views made to compare observed versus predicted water levels, were shared on social media, on the portal, and via direct communication with partners.
YK Delta Water Level and Webcams
Western Alaska Water Level and Webcams
CONTACT: Taylor Borgfeldt, borgfeldt@aoos.org
In response to Ex-Typhoon Halong, the AWLW created data dashboards for the YK Delta and Western Alaska. Screenshot courtesy of AOOS.