CUC, DEQ, USGS team up to abate water crisis

As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disclosed the onset of El Nino around the world, the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation said it will work with the U.S. Geological Service and the Division of Environmental Quality in tapping new well sites to abate a water crisis.

CUC Executive Director Bernard P. Villagomez said this amid statements issued by USGS hydrologist Robert Carruth that drought may occur in the Northern Marianas as a weather impact of El Nino, which was projected to mature in the coming months.

The Saipan-based hydrologist said that drought can have a tremendous impact on Saipan’s already inadequate water supply.

“It’s actually the year after the El Nino that we have to worry about – drought – not just in the Marianas but throughout Micronesia. There was a serious drought in the Marshall Islands and Pohnpei and some other areas where they had to either fly in desalination unit or go on water rationing and that sort of thing,” Carruth said, recalling the El Nino phenomenon that hit the region a few years ago.

“On these small islands, where all the water resources come from rainfall, that’s a big impact,” he said. “Enough is known about what the effects are that when we know El Nino is coming, we should be planning for it.”

He explained that when the phenomenon struck the globe in 1997, it brought typhoons and tropical storms in the Northern Marianas. Drought occurred the following year.

El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature at the Equatorial Pacific. It is the opposite of La Nina, which pertains to unusually cold temperature.

The NOAA, on its web site, distinguished the two phenomena because La Nina has been frequently used by scientists and common people alike to refer to El Nino. Both phenomena, though, impact on climatic changes in different parts of the globe.

“There’s a big connection between the ocean and the groundwater, because the ocean water occurs throughout the island from coast to coast. Inside the island, you have ocean water, and then fresh water floats like a layer on top of the ocean water inside the island. So when the tide goes up, the fresh water goes up; and when the tide goes down the fresh water goes down with the ocean level,” Carruth said.

This, however, would have no negative effect on the groundwater if only rising sea temperature “and nothing else” happens, he added. It is the rainfall level that would impact on Saipan’s water supply.

The average amount of rainfall on Saipan is about 80 inches per year. At present, Carruth said the level of rainfall on the island is “close to normal.”

But he also said rain carried by El Nino does not mean that rainfall level would increase, since rain water may just go back to the ocean as runoff.

Meanwhile, Villagomez said four additional wells are set to be operated by the CUC. Three of them are located in As Matuis, while another one is in Capitol Hill.