CUC remains undecided on USGS contract

A week after the previous contract expired, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. remains undecided whether or not to renew its $333,000 agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for a water-drilling project on Mt. Tapochau.

CUC executive director Lorraine Babauta said Thursday that the proposed renewal of the USGS contract will be brought up with the operations committee of the CUC board of directors before management acts on it.

Babauta noted that some board members have raised concern about the need for the USGS’ services, since the federal agency is also working with the CNMI Water Task Force.

“It’s like a duplication effort. They’re working with the Water Task Force, and at the same time, with CUC. We just want to centralize it and have one office dealing with USGS,” Babauta said.

The USGS is also working with the CNMI Water Task Force on an exploratory drilling program. Last May, Gov. Juan N. Babauta signed an $835,911 contract for a water well drilling rig. The equipment would be used to drill as many as 60 new wells on Saipan within the next two years to provide for about 2 million gallons of water per day.

CUC’s Babauta added that the contract was not included in the corporation’s budget for fiscal year 2005, as “we were hoping that that could be entertained under the Water Task Force’s budget.”

Still, she maintained that CUC would try to entertain the proposed renewal.

On Sept. 16, the USGS sent CUC a draft agreement and a letter asking the corporation to renew the contract under the cost of $333,000, the same as fiscal year 2004. This amount is shared equally between both agencies, with each paying $166,500.

The one-year agreement would have taken effect on Oct. 1.

Initiated in 1989, the cooperative program between CUC and the USGS aim to better understand the groundwater resources of Saipan and water resources on tropical islands in general, according to a USGS report issued in 2003.

“The objective of the program is to assess the groundwater resources of Saipan and to make hydrologic information available to the CUC in support of their ongoing efforts to improve the quality and quantity of the municipal water supply,” a portion of the report reads.

In his Sept. 16 letter, USGS district chief Gordon Tribble said work performed with funds from the agreement will be conducted on a fixed-price basis.

“We look forward to another year of working with CUC to improve our knowledge of water resources in the [CNMI],” Tribble said. “With the new drill rig on the way, we are excited to assist CUC in determining the extent and thickness of water resources in the upland areas of the island, including the Mt. Tapochau sites.”