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Federal water data

County water report

Anchorage Municipality Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Anchorage Municipality, Alaska.

Water grade

C

Water score

52.4

State rank

#4

of 22

Health violations

38

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

16.7%

6 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

N/A

EPA Water Quality Portal

Live streamflow

57%

SHIP C NR ANCHORAGE AK

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Anchorage Municipality

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 52.4 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

38

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

17% impaired

6 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

57% of mean

SHIP C NR ANCHORAGE AK

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

N/A

Rolling 5-year window

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

52.4/100

Health violations

38

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

13.1

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Anchorage Municipality’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Anchorage Municipality's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 52.4 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 38 health-based violations — a pattern that public water utilities are required to disclose and correct.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). A notable 16.7% of assessed waterways carry an impairment designation (1 of 6 water bodies) across Anchorage Municipality's watersheds. The leading impairment causes are lead in sediment and contaminated sediments (pahs). Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T11:00:00.000-08:00) puts SHIP C at 84.5 cfs — well below its long-term average at 57% of mean — low-flow conditions worth noting for water-dependent ecosystems. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Anchorage Municipality

Water Verdict

Anchorage Municipality receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 52.4 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking.

Violation Context

Anchorage Municipality has recorded 38 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 13.1 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Anchorage Municipality meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Anchorage Municipality's drinking-water compliance score is 52.4 out of 100. The violation rate for Anchorage Municipality is 13.1 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. Lead in Sediment is the leading impairment cause in Anchorage Municipality's watershed. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the SHIP C gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Anchorage Municipality has better water quality than the average county in Alaska. Its water score is 32.6 points higher than the state average, indicating stronger water system performance relative to neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Anchorage Municipality's water environment

Watershed Impairment Causes (EPA ATTAINS)

  • 1

    Lead in Sediment

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 2

    Contaminated Sediments (Pahs)

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

  • 3

    Zinc in Sediment

    Impairment cause per EPA Clean Water Act §303(d) assessment

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Official EPA Resources for Anchorage Municipality

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Anchorage Municipality

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Anchorage Municipality

Consumer Confidence Reports (AK)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Alaska

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

16.7%

1 of 6 assessed

Some impairment

Top Impairment Causes

  • 1

    LEAD IN SEDIMENT

  • 2

    CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS (PAHS)

  • 3

    ZINC IN SEDIMENT

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

84.5cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

57%

Well below typical

Primary Streamgage

SHIP C NR ANCHORAGE AK

USGS site
15276000
Drainage area
89.6 sq mi
Long-term mean
149 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

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Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Anchorage Municipality:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Anchorage Municipality, Alaska?
Anchorage Municipality, Alaska has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 52.4/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 38 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Anchorage Municipality?
Anchorage Municipality has 38 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Anchorage Municipality?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 16.7% of Anchorage Municipality's 6 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (1 impaired). The top reported causes are LEAD IN SEDIMENT, CONTAMINATED SEDIMENTS (PAHS), ZINC IN SEDIMENT. Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
What's happening with rivers in Anchorage Municipality right now?
Anchorage Municipality's primary USGS streamgage on the SHIP C has a pipeline snapshot of 84.5 cubic feet per second — 57% of the long-term mean of 149.19 cfs. This is well below typical — often a signal of drought stress on source water. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Anchorage Municipality water compare to the Alaska average?
Anchorage Municipality's SDWIS water quality score of 52.4/100 is higher than the Alaska state average of 19.8. The average water quality grade across Alaska is F, based on data from 22 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Anchorage Municipality?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Anchorage Municipality has a water quality grade of C (52.4/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Why does Anchorage Municipality have so many water violations?
Anchorage Municipality has 38 health-based drinking water violations on record from the EPA SDWIS database. A higher violation count can result from aging infrastructure, underfunded water utilities, agricultural runoff contamination, or industrial pollution. Counties with more water systems may also see more violations simply due to scale. Residents concerned about water quality should consider independent water testing and home filtration systems.
How does Anchorage Municipality rank for water quality in Alaska?
Anchorage Municipality ranks #4 out of 22 counties in Alaska by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 52.4/100, it falls in the top third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

North Slope Borough

Alaska

C

53.7

Water score

Fairbanks North Star Borough

Alaska

D

47.8

Water score

Juneau City and Borough

Alaska

C

62.0

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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