THE dry season and some infrastructure projects may affect water services in some areas of Saipan, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s water task force said in an emergency meeting Sunday.
CUC Executive Director Gary Camacho said the task force is also “diligently working to minimize any inconvenience to the consumers.”
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Executive Director Gary Camacho poses for a photo in his office.
Photo by Bryan Manabat
He said CUC has taken on the additional task of monitoring the volume of water supply and how best to distribute water to each tank service area.
The dry season in the Northern Marianas starts in December and ends in June. (See CUC advisory on page 7.)
Camacho said CUC will monitor the supply levels and may at some time require scheduling water supply for a service area based on the status of the wells and the supply to various tanks.
“This is a constant balancing act as we pull water from one service area to bring it to another, but it can be managed and supplies extended suitably to meet the demand,” he added.
According to the CUC water task force, the Akgak wells and Donni Spring are not producing their normal water supply due to less rainfall. As a result, supply to the Capital Hill area has decreased, which has also reduced the tank levels in Papago, Puerto Rico, and Calhoun.
The CUC water task force said low water supply has also affected San Vicente and Obyan.
CUC is replacing the old San Vicente tank with a new and larger 750,000-gallon tank.
Meantime, a 70,000-gallon temporary water tank has been connected to the distribution system for the San Vicente area and it also feeds Obyan whose water hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The San Vicente water supply comes primarily from Kagman through the Papago tank and Kumoi booster.
CUC said it is close to completing the new Kagman booster station with an improved pumping system, but the completion date has been extended from October 2020 to April 2021 because the manufacturing of a control system and the delivery have been impacted as well, the water task force said.
“During this time, the Dandan area is affected by lower pressure because the supply is gravity-fed to Obyan to provide them with adequate supply for six hours a day,” the water task force added.
CUC is encouraging consumers to think and plan ahead in anticipation of water restrictions that may be imposed.
