Chena Slough and River Changes Over the Past 100 Years

Authors: Henszey, Bob. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Retired)

Video Presentation

Abstract

The Chena Slough was once a side channel of the Tanana River, carrying sediment-laden glacial meltwater through what we now know as North Pole and Fairbanks before returning to the Tanana River. Originating upstream near Eielson Air Force Base from a number of small contributing channels flowing from the Tanana River into a single channel now known as Piledriver Slough, the Chena Slough was large enough to attract turn-of-the-century steamboats laden with prospectors seeking gold, and to support the founding of Fairbanks. A series of historical maps and aerial photographs at select locations along the Slough show how increasing flow into the Slough was once considered to improve steamboat traffic, but ultimately the upstream connection to the Tanana River was severed by the Moose Creek Dike, and later by the Moose Creek Dam, to control flooding in Fairbanks. Once severed, the Chena Slough became a clear-water tributary to the Chena River at their confluence near North Pole, so what was once called a slough in Fairbanks is now known as the Chena River.

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