The briefing was held near the large box culvert at the corner of Kagman and Chacha Roads.
The box culvert was one of the first flood control features completed two years ago for the project which will now get $4.1 million in ARRA funds.
Encompassing 3,750 acres on the eastern shore of Saipan, the Kagman watershed project started many years ago but it stopped when the federal government did not fund it in 2007 and 2008.
Lawrence T. Yamamoto, director of NRCS Pacific Islands Area, said three waterways, two with underground water channels, will be constructed.
Waterway A will lead the runoffs along Kagman Road from Isa Drive all the way to the box culvert at the Kagman intersection.
Waterway B will channel the runoffs coming from the southeastern side of the Kagman commercial farm plots while Waterway C will bring the regulated flow of water from the box culvert to the 70 million gallon water reservoir.
The project has two components.
The first is flood control which will help protect and maintain water supplies, reduce soil erosion, restore wetlands and improve water quality.
It will also ease and restore flood plains to safeguard lives and properties of the people in Kagman.
The other component is the irrigation system that will help address the needs of the island’s agricultural activities.
Yamamoto expressed hope that new funding can also be secured for the final phase which is the construction of the water reservoir, the structure that will provide local farmers with an irrigation system.
Jeffrey C. Wheaton, NRCS state conservationist engineer, said the watershed is a well-planned project and shovel-ready.
They are now preparing the design and will contract the job pretty soon, he added.
“This project has a lot of merits and it deserves funding,” Wheaton said.
Tim Brasuell, project engineer, showed how the constructions of the waterways will begin.
The underground water channels — the main structure for the flood control component — will be constructed first.
Brasuell said they are now securing the required permits from regulatory agencies.
Agriculturist Isidoro T. Cabrera said it was discussed in the past that the irrigation system would be created first before the flood component.
But it was explained to them that irrigation won’t work well until the final phase is completed
“So I think we can continue with the current system and irrigation can wait for a few more years,” Cabrera said.
With the help of the CNMI government, the farmers group has been addressing irrigation concerns by repairing and maintaining the existing water pumps.
Those who attended the briefing yesterday included Agriculture Director Richard Seman and Henry S. Hofschneider, assistant to the secretary of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
