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Task force restores water supply to Kagman farms
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Posted on Mar 30 2005
The Governor’s Water Task Force said that three of the five wells supplying water to the Kagman farmlands have been rebuilt to address a serious water supply situation in the agricultural area.
“Two of the five wells had been down for some time. And with the onset of the dry season, farmers were hurting for water,” said Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente, task force head.
Further inspection by task force personnel showed that a third well also needed to be rebuilt, while significant repairs need to be done on the fourth and fifth wells.
Peter M. De Leon Guerrero, trades technician II of the Saipan and Northern Islands Soil and Water Conservation District who monitors the water situation at the farmlands, said there are about 25 farm plots in Kagman, all of which get water from 72 “farm turnouts” or faucets connected to a distribution line which receives water from the five wells.
He said they recently requested assistance from the task force after one of the wells lost pressure.
“Task force personnel went there to assess the situation, replaced and/or repaired what was required and got everything up and going,” Guerrero said.
The government embarked on an irrigation system through the Kagman Watershed Project several years ago. Under this project, water would be pumped in to a 100,000 gallon tank from a 70 million gallon reservoir that would in turn be distributed to the farm plots. The project, however, has remained incomplete to this day.
Aware of the need to ensure continuous water supply, the SNISWCD board requested the federal government through the Natural Resources Conservation Service to assist in drilling wells as a temporary measure to supplement the water supply to the farmlands.
Guerrero said their office is currently working with the task force and NRCS to come up with alternative measures that would provide a permanent solution to Kagman’s water needs.
Kagman farmers had raised concerns about the water supply situation in their farms, noting that they could incur losses if nothing was immediately done to address the problem.
Saipan gets much of its vegetable supply from Kagman.
