A flood in 2006 washed out an upstream dike, inundating the 150-home Alpine Woods subdivision on the Lowe River, built in the mid-1970s, 10 miles north of Valdez, Alaska. The development was unsewered. Fearing contaminated wells, city officials sampled them and found coliform bacteria.The flood helped bring to light improperly sized onsite systems, faulty installations, failed drainfields, ponded sewage within 10 feet of salmon streams, and the occasional homemade 55-gallon-drum septic tank. In 2007, the city of Valdez annexed Alpine Woods.In 2008, the city received a grant from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation to solve the septic problems. Residents
