House moves to address water issues

The House Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Communications is set to come up with comprehensive legislation addressing water problems on Saipan, particularly the quality of its groundwater resources.

The panel is scheduled to meet this morning with private well owners, water companies and the business sector such as the hotel and garment manufacturing association to begin discussion on the issue.

Committee chair Rep. Rosiky F. Camacho said the meeting will be part of education campaign on the water situation on the island as well as an effort to gather input and recommendations in aid of legislation.

One measure being studied by lawmakers, he said, will involve steps on how to link private wells with those operated by the government-owned Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

“We need to have more [distribution] lines to connect these private wells with government wells,” Mr. Camacho told in an interview Friday. “This will include any wells found to be, not only contaminating our ground water, but also depleting our water level.”

Today’s meeting also hopes to address concerns on the planned charges to be imposed by the Division of Environmental Quality on private well owners to ensure that they are tested to be safe and potable.

“We want to work with DEQ and look into that fine. We want to find out if this amount of money that is supposed to be going to [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] can revert back to the CNMI funds so that we can assist the private well owners,” said the PUTC chairman.

He also disclosed that there is legislative plan to adopt a scheme by which water consumers will be metered so that they will pay for the amount of water they use.

“Everybody has to be metered. They need to pay for what they use, but we have to base that [rates] on quality and not just consumption,” added Mr. Camacho.

In light of mounting concerns on the quality of potable water on the island, a task force has been proposed by the House to monitor the safety of groundwater resources being supplied to residential homes and commercial establishments.

Under a pending bill, the proposed Water Safety Task Force will comprise one representative each from the DEQ, Department of Public Health, the hotel association, Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association.

The temporary task force is “urgently necessary” to compile, review and disseminate appropriate and accurate information relating to public water safety in the Commonwealth.

One of its duties is to make recommendations to the governor and the Legislature on any needed regulation, legislation, enforcement or other action to protect these water resources from contamination.