By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
THE Commonwealth Utilities Corporation is working toward full water restoration for Saipan, utility coordinator Joel Hoepner said, though he cautioned that widespread leaks and water loss remain the biggest barriers to reaching 100% service.
In a press conference on Friday, May 8, Hoepner said the final stretch will depend on leak repairs and stabilizing production across remaining low-pressure areas.
Hoepner said the island is currently at about 80% with 24-hour water service, supported by “35 to 45 FEMA generators powering wells” and additional production brought online through U.S. Army Corps of Engineers support. “Their generators are keeping our water wells pumping water as well,” he said.
Several major tank service areas are already at or near full service. The Isley tank service area has been at 100%, covering Susupe, Chalan Kanoa, Fina Sisu, San Antonio and parts of Koblerville. The Dandan tank service area is also “pretty much 100%,” though currently dependent on a temporary 60,000-gallon tank. A new 1-million-gallon Dandan tank has passed final inspection and is expected to come online soon, which Hoepner said will make the system “more robust and a lot easier to manage.”
The Dandan homestead and As Lito/Obyan areas remain on limited hours but have seen service extensions as production improves. As Terlaje, As Matuis, San Vicente and Kannat Tabla remain on scheduled water service as CUC works to stabilize pressure and address leaks.
A major step forward came from adding six wells in Kagman, allowing CUC to move “around 500 gallons per minute” toward Papago and the San Vicente tanks. That shift helped bring Garapan to 100% online, from Cemetery Road north to Kannat Tabla and south to the federal courthouse.
Hoepner said Kannat Tabla, once the last red zone on CUC’s map, is now receiving water after vendors installed a bypass in the DIP transmission and distribution piping. Crews are still “dialing in” the pump-based setup, and he expects more normal service — including for upper Chalan Kiya — in the coming days.
But full restoration remains constrained by leaks, especially in the As Matuis–San Roque–Tanapag corridor. “We’re losing a lot of water,” Hoepner said. About 40 CUC workers are deployed daily across the island, repairing “probably 100 or more leaks a day.”
He also urged customers who still have no water to contact the CUC call center, noting that some meters were shut off early in the response to control systemwide losses.
Hoepner did not give a timeline for 100% restoration but said crews will continue leak-hunting and stabilization work until the entire island is back online.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
