THE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments on a watershed assessment of widespread damage throughout the CNMI caused by Super Typhoon Yutu.
Together with the Office of the Governor, USACE is conducting this assessment to provide a conceptual strategy that will help rehabilitate and improve the resiliency of damaged infrastructure and natural resources while reducing risks to human life and property from future natural hazards throughout the Commonwealth.
The CNMI watershed assessment is authorized by Section 729 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, as amended.
The Act provides for the conservation and development of water and related resources, and authorizes the Secretary of the Army to construct various projects for improvements to rivers and harbors of the U.S.
These water resource projects include small projects for flood damage reduction, emergency streambank protection, navigation, improvement of the quality of the environment, aquatic ecosystem restoration, shoreline protection, snagging and sediment removal, aquatic plant control, as well as to prevent or mitigate damage caused by navigation projects.
The water assessment incorporates available information related to recent storm damage from Super Typhoon Yutu, as well as other past storms that have had a major impact on the CNMI.
It also assesses social, economic, life loss, and environmental risks.
In collaboration with study partners and stakeholders, the recommendations focus on addressing issues within six different problem categories: tropical storms and typhoons, coastal areas, water quality and quantity, inland ecosystems, rainfall events, and tsunamis.
A risk- and uncertainty-based approach was utilized to help prioritize recommendations and develop an implementation strategy which focuses on immediate versus incremental implementation steps.
The draft report and its appendices were released on Tuesday, March 2, 2022 for a 45-day public review and comment period.
These can be accessed via the CNMI Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality-Division of Coastal Resources Management website at https://dcrm.gov.mp/our-programs/water-quality-and-watershed-management/wqatershed-working-group/ or the USACE website at https://www.poh.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Civil-Works-Projects
All comments should be emailed to [email protected] no later than Friday, April 15, 2022 for further review and consideration.
