Because of allocation formula changes the congressman won in the fiscal year 2010 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriation, H.R. 2996, water and sewer funding for the commonwealth jumped from $1.05 million in FY09 to $11.3 million this year — a ten-fold increase.
“24-hour water is the holy grail of infrastructure in the Northern Marianas,” said Sablan. “And the more funding we have, the faster we will get water to all homes, all day, every day.
“So, I have made increased federal funding for water projects one of my priorities in this Congress,” said Kilili.
“Just as important is making sure that wastewater gets treated properly, so that our aquifers and off-shore waters remain clean. So we have achieved large increases in funding for sewer infrastructure, too.”
“There are projects on Rota, in Kagman, Fina Sisu, San Vicente, and Chalan Kanoa — all around the commonwealth the positive effects of these new monies are going to be seen and felt,” according to Sablan.
“[The Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] will now also have more money to complete a master plan for future projects and improvements that we could use for future funding requests,” Sablan said.
“In addition to improving people’s lives by bringing water to their homes, we are also doing something to protect the environment, creating jobs, saving energy, and putting down more of the modern infrastructure that is necessary for economic development.”
Besides the formula-based increases for the Safe Drinking Water Fund and Clean Water Fund programs that Kilili got in the FY 2-10 spending bill, the Northern Marianas also received grants for these two programs through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. $1,829,000 was made available for water projects and $1,651,700 for sewer projects.
“Altogether $14.7 million in water and sewer money from both the Recovery Act and from the formula change,” he said.
“We will have construction work throughout the commonwealth this year and next because of this money.
“We will be making significant improvements in our water and sewer systems.”
CUC and the water task force have an established list of priorities, which determines the order for water and sewer projects. Normally, because of limited funding, only the top one or two projects can be contracted out each year. But with the burst of new funding from the Recovery Act and the FY ‘10 formula change, it will be possible to get 14 separate projects underway.
Already contracted out using the Recovery Act funding is the Saipan well isolation project. This will redirect water from 25 wells, currently going directly into the distribution system, to reservoirs instead. The result will be energy savings, increased pumping efficiency, and the elimination of the need for nine separate chlorination sites and one booster pump station.
Rehabilitation of the Sadog Tasi wastewater treatment plant is also under contract with Recovery Act money. The upgrade and modification of the treatment plant’s aeration system will significantly reduce energy usage and will cut operation and maintenance costs.
A third project, the W-8 sewer lift station realignment, is being begun with Recovery Act funds, but will be completed with FY ‘10 increases. The rerouting and realignment of sewer collection lines and the abandonment of two sewer pump stations under this project will, again, serve to reduce energy, operations, and maintenance costs.
The attached table provides information about the other projects on the CUC priorities list that can be undertaken with the FY ‘10 funding.
Sablan noted that it is not only making the money available that is important.
“In Congress we enact the appropriations,” the congressman said. “That is the necessary first step. You cannot do anything without the money.
“But once we make the money available, then many people here in the commonwealth have to do the hard work of engineering, and contracting, and running the bulldozers and the backhoes before any of us see the benefits of those federal funds.
“We are all in this together,” said Kilili. “Making the commonwealth a better place to live.”
