IB Depth NONPDINT SOURCE SUCCESS STURY

Highlighting the People Behind the Progress

Community Efforts Improve the Achugao Watershed

TANAPAG VILLAGE, SAIPAN, COMMONWEALTH OF
THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

A collaboration between community members and local government
officials led to voluntary efforts to reduce water pollution in the
1,607-acre Achugao watershed on the island of Saipan. A survey team
from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Bureau of
Environmental and Coastal Quality (CNMI BECQ) discovered wastewater
and other pollution sources entering the watershed's streams. To improve
watershed conditions, the team met with Tanapag villagers, explained the
causes and effects of the pollution and helped them obtain funds from
the local government and the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS). The community responded by conducting watershed cleanups and
implementing practices to improve stream and coastal water quality.

Partners in Success

Tanapag Village Community

Neighbors Making a Difference

Community members responded to the call to clean up
the watershed by removing debris and pollution.

Martin Naputi, NRCS

Federal Employee Connects with Landowners

Martin worked alongside his district conservationist to
conduct outreach and provide technical assistance.

Morihna Iguel, Piggery Owner

Citizen Supports Action

Mrs. Iguel, a longtime resident of the watershed, worked
with NRCS to build a new dry-litter piggery system.

Clarissa Bearden, CNMI BECQ (Former)

CNMI Contact Fosters Communication
Clarissa worked with federal and local partners to
implement projects and connect residents to resources.

Success Story

•	Pollutant of concern:

Bacteria, nutrients, dissolved
oxygen, biological conditions

•	Practices implemented:

Sewer leak repair, dump site
cleanups, public sewer line
connection, outhouse removal,
improved animal housing,
vegetation plantings

•	Waters restored/improved:

Achugao, Dogas and Agatan
streams

•	Key elements of success:
» Sanitary survey

» Public outreach, including
face-to-face interactions and
offers of technical assistance
and funding

» Local buy-in and support from
Tanapag villagers

» Widespread community
participation in on-the-ground
pollution reduction and clean-
up efforts

Commonwealth
of the Northern
Mariana Islands

5 pic of C a n c e r
-»-r	-t

Hawaii

Eq ii a t o .

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Basin Description

The Achugao headwaters begin on Wireless Ridge and flow into
Tanapag (also called Saipan) Lagoon. Large grasslands cover the
upper watershed along Wireless Ridge. Three major stream
systems flow from the ridge to the lagoon, starting with the
Agatan and Dogas streams in the southern subwatershed and
Achugao Stream in the northern subwatershed.

The Achugao watershed hosts diverse terrestrial and marine
habitats, including limestone forests, grasslands, freshwater and
brackish wetlands, mangroves, seagrass and coral reefs. This
watershed includes some of the largest and most consistently
flowing stream systems in CNMI.

Identifying the Problem

Coastal waters near the Achugao watershed were first
listed as impaired in 2004 due to persistent exceedances
of fecal indicator bacteria, poor biological conditions
within the lagoon and low dissolved oxygen levels from
elevated nutrients. Pollutant sources in the lower watershed
included illicit discharges, wastewater and stormwater from
outhouses, animal pens, outdoor kitchens, feral animals
and rubbish areas. In 2013, two significant pollution events
occurred in Dogas Stream, just south of Achugao Stream:
a fish kill in April and a raw sewage spill in late December.
Prompt action was necessary to protect public health and the
environment.

Facilitating a Solution

In 2013, the BECQ's Water Quality Surveillance/Nonpoint
Source Program responded to pollution concerns by
expanding its existing marine water quality monitoring
program to create a "Stream Dream Team." In the Achugao
watershed, the new team focused on assessing upland
areas to pinpoint the sources of water pollution reaching
the impaired coastal waters. The team mapped the area
and conducted a sanitary survey to identify sources. These
included piped discharges into the stream bed from a
family toilet and kitchen sink, wastewater discharges from
outhouses and piggeries and leachate from several household
waste dump sites. Instead of issuing penalties for violations,
the Stream Dream Team reached out directly to members of
these low- income communities to find and fund solutions.

Achugao
Watershed

Managaha

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands:
Saipan watershed map. For more details, access the
Interactive Watershed Mao Viewer for Saipan.

The Stream Dream Team assesses the Achugao
Stream, mid-watershed.

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A Community-Based Approach

To inform and engage the community members, the Stream Dream Team
conducted in person visits with local families. In these meetings, the team
explained the hazards of illicit discharges and helped homeowners find
low-cost alternatives for sanitary treatment of wastewater, such as compost
toilets and dry-litter piggery systems. Two households agreed to host a
"Coffee Klatch," inviting neighbors to learn how their activities could be
polluting the stream and discover how government partners could provide
funding and technical resources to help remove pollution and improve their
living conditions.

With support from a village leader, the team later held a Village Assistance
Forum after a church service. The event brought together representatives
from local and federal partner agencies with 19 heads of household to
explain available financing programs. Agency staff helped attendees fill out
applications for various programs, including free sewer hook-ups, funds to
build sanitary dry-litter piggeries, home improvements and vouchers for
electrical payments and upgrades to energy-efficient appliances.

Neighbors Making a Difference

The Tanapag community responded to the team's outreach efforts and
rallied to address the problems. Residents cleaned up illegal dump sites
and beach areas. They moved animals away from the stream and changed
their outdoor water disposal practices. Four homes were hooked up to the
sewer line and two outhouses were removed. Three families used NRCS
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds to build dry-litter
pens in their subsistence farming piggeries.

Villagers fill out funding applications
at the Village Assistance Forum.

Morihna Iguel meets with a
government representative to discuss
programs.

BECQ staff and community members help clean up an illegal dump site In the Achugao watershed.

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THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROGRESS

Martin Naputi,

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Federal Employee Connects with Landowners

Martin Naputi has been with the U.S. Department of Agriculture NRCS for
more than three decades. At the time of the Achugao watershed project,
he served as a soil conservation technician. Martin is now working as a civi
engineer technician. He worked closely with the district conservationist, w
spearheaded the outreach efforts with villagers.

•	How did you become involved in the effort to improve water quality?

Martin: As soon as my district conservationist gathered information from
preliminary meetings with the public, he approached NRCS staff, and we
identified ways to address the issues in the watershed.

•	What were the key resources the villagers used to address problems?

Martin: At the time, we had funding from EQIP that was perfectly aligned
with the Achugao Watershed Committee's goals. From there, we created a
conservation plan and completed some endangered species and historical
preservation reviews. I collaborated one-on-one with the villagers who
ran piggery operations in the watershed, and I worked with them to install
dry-litter piggery systems.

•	What challenges did you and your clients face ?

Martin: Our clients faced financial challenges, but they wanted to build
piggery systems that would protect the environment. We were fortunate
that EQIP funding provided financial assistance. Also, some residents
didn't have the necessary land ownership documents because they
acquired the land culturally, which is by word of mouth. Fortunately, even
in these cases we could provide technical assistance, giving them free
examples of dry-litter piggery designs that they then went on to install.

Some people are still trying to acquire their land ownership documents so
we can more formally help them.

•	What was the biggest surprise while working on this?

Martin: Everybody wanted to help! Our clients understood the
importance of adapting their farming processes and were invested in
getting the environment back to its original state. Everyone we reached
out to was willing to learn about the issues and opportunities, and they
remained very involved in our process.

il

ho

''Our clients were
invested in getting the
environment hack to
its original state/'

Martin Naputi

Wastewater leaks from an eroding
piggery in the Achugao watershed.
This piggery owner moved the pigs to
a new location away from the stream.

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Morihna Iguel, Community Member and Piggery Owner

Citizen Supports Action

Morihna Iguel has lived in the Achugao watershed for decades. During the
Achugao project, she and her late husband worked in tandem with the
NRCS to implement a dry-litter piggery system that remains in place and is
expected to last for generations.

•	What do you love most about your community?

Morihna: I've been living here in the watershed for many years, since my
eldest child was born. Now, I'm watching my grandkids grow up here. What I
love most about our community is how we feel like one big family, connected
by our shared culture.

•	Which conservation project did your family implement?

Morihna: My family and I enjoyed getting involved in the dry-litter piggery
project. We faced some challenges during the program, but we're thankful
to the amazing staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bureau of
Environmental and Coastal Quality for making things so much easier for my
family and me.

•	How has the project affected the watershed?

Morihna: The conservation practices we've implemented have significantly
transformed the watershed. We are thrilled to see a substantial reduction in
plastics, trash and debris floating in the streams and the coastline areas near
the watershed.

•	What encouragement would you give to other community members?

Morihna: Living in the Achugao watershed has really helped our family and
me understand the importance of keeping the watershed clean and the
benefits of our dry-litter piggery. It's been a great experience!

"The conservation
practices we've
implemented
have significantly
transformed the
watershed/'

Morihna Iguel

The finished piggery includes a waste
storage facility, roofs and covers, roof
runoff capture structure, and heavy
use area protection.

Wood chips serve as bedding material
while also absorbing the pig waste
at the lower end of the concrete slab
stalls.

The Iguels collect and store the wood-
chip waste in the piggery's block-bin
storage facility for later use as compost
for plants.

The Iguels and NRCS installed a dry-litter piggery operation with four stalls in 2019.

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Clarissa Bearden, CNMI BECQ (Former)

CNMI Contact Fosters Communication

At the time of the Achugao watershed project, Clarissa Bearderi served as the
manager of the BECQ water quality and nonpoint source pollution program.

•	How did you become involved in the effort?

Clarissa: My team and I were assessing impaired sites, including one in
Tanapag in the Achugao watershed. We conducted a sanitary survey of
the watershed and identified activities that contributed to the biological
violations found in the beach area. Most of the illicit discharges we saw
originated from pigpens, outhouses and gray water from outdoor kitchen
sinks.

•	How were you able to engage the community?

Clarissa: Initially we went to the houses of people living next to the streams.
We spoke to them and shared brochures describing the activities that could
affect water quality. The community members were concerned because the
impacted beach area was where they spent most of their time recreating on
weekends. They kindly accepted us into their homes and talked to us. It was
very fulfilling work.

•	What challenges did you and your clients face ?

Clarissa: Some people didn't have transportation, so we drove them
to agency offices to apply for grants. For example, the NRCS was
giving out grants for dry-litter pigpens, but some families would
not have been able to get to the agency offices to apply. Another
major issue was that a lot of the villagers lived on family land and did
not have land ownership documents. This did not stop them from
participating, though. They were more than happy to move their
piggeries away from the streambed.

•	What was the biggest surprise while working on this?

Clarissa: People were very willing to be a part of the water quality
improvement effort. They were receptive to the work we wanted to
do and helped us willingly, even though they knew we could impose
fines if we wanted to. They voluntarily collaborated with us on
finding and implementing solutions. It was very fulfilling to see the
impacts of everyone's hard work when the water quality improved.

•	What do you want other people to know about this effort?

Clarissa: I am very proud of this project. I want people to know it
takes a community working together to clean up a polluted area.

We could not have done it by ourselves. We needed the community
to join us and make it happen. Working with them over the span of a
year and seeing the water quality improve has been amazing.

"It takes a community
working together to
clean up a polluted

area.

Clarissa Bearden

Debris dumped in the streambeds (top)
contributed pollutants to downstream
beaches. The community members rallied to
clean up these areas (bottom).

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Progress Underway

Water quality has improved locally after the community
outreach arid engagement efforts in the mid-2010s.
Visible pollu tion problems, such as the 2013 raw
sewage pollution event in Dogas Stream, captured the
community's attention and were quickly addressed. The
amount of waste and debris flowing downstream and into
coastal waters has declined as a result.

Data show that bacteria levels in the south Achugao
watershed have dropped overall but continue to
fluctuate. The chart below shows that exceedances of the
ente to cocci bacteria water quality standard dropped at
the Tanapag Meeting Hall water quality monitoring site
WBQ7 from 2014 to 202.0.

Exceedances of the enterococci bacterial water quality standard
(130 most probable number/100 mL) at the Tanapag Meeting Hall
(2012-2020).

Tanapag Meeting Hall
Meeting Site WB07

40%

oi

TJ ¦-

20% 20%

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

However, water quality problems/elevated bacterial
levels persist due to new sources of pollutants and
the lack of maintenance of existing water quality
improvements. Data at site WB07 indicate that the
percent exceedances increased in 2021 and 2022 (to 23%
and 48%, respectively), before dropping again in 2023
to 16% exceedance. Therefore, BECQ has not yet been
able to remove the Achugao watershed coastal segments
(segments 20A North and 2.0B South) from
the list of impaired waters. The staff continues
efforts to identify and address pollution sources.

A pollution event in Dogas Stream (top) in 2013 helped to
prompt actions to identify and remove pollution sources
in the larger Achugao watershed. After community
efforts, water quality has improved (bottom).

Tanapag
Meeting Hall
Monitoring
Site (WB07)

A 2017 coastal waters bacteria total maximum
daily load was developed for Saipan, which
includes the two Achugao watershed segments.
Since then, BECQ has developed an Achugao ¦
specific watershed management plan for
2020-2030 and an assessment report outlining
restoration opportunities and management
priorities for water quality improvement.

Some key recommendations outlined in the
documents are to continue community outreach
and capacity-building, support small-scale water
quality and restoration projects, and address
sediment and bacteria from new development.
The community and BECQ will use the total
maximum daily load report and the watershed
management plan to help guide future efforts to
reduce water pollution.

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Learn More

The following resources include
more details on the pollution prob-
lems and solutions in the Achugao
and other Saipan watersheds.

Publications and maps

•	Achugao Watershed Existing
Conditions and Opportunities
Interim Report (2020)

•	Achugao Watershed
Management Plan 2020-2030

(2022)

•	Interactive Watershed Map
Viewer

Watershed protection videos

•	"Stream Restoration: It Takes a
Village" - Highlights the Stream
Dream Team's community
outreach efforts,

•	"Animal Wastewater Hazards" -
Explains how animal wastewater
can enter streams and cause
illness in swimmers.

•	"Imagine" - Encourages people
to pick up litter.

Websites

•	BECQ Division of Coastal
Resources Management

• BECQ Water Quality Surveillance

and Nonpoint Source Branch

Children run into the Saipan surf
(from BECQ's "Imagine" video).

Looking Ahead

The success of collaborative, one-on-one
community outreach efforts, such as the
Village Assistance Forum in Tanapag, has
become a model for outreach in other low-
income villages located within CNMI's impaired
watersheds. Tanapag Village residents have
even encouraged families living outside the
Achugao watershed to contact the Stream
Dream Team for help in cleaning up their

environment.

Grasslands cover the upper
Work continues in the watershed to assess and watershed.

address pollution problems as they arise. The

community's willingness to make improvements and protect the watershed
has reduced debris problems and improved water quality. The villagers
can once again enjoy their streams and shorelines, thanks to the ongoing
dedication and engagement of individual residents, the determination and
ingenuity of the BECQ's Stream Dream Team and the financial and technical
support from the following sources:

•	CNMI Department of Public Works, Energy Division

•	CNMI Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program

•	Northern Marianas Housing Corporation

•	U.S. Department of Agriculture NRCS, EQIP

•	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act
Section 319 Program

Looking across the Achugao watershed towards the Tanapag Lagoon.

HI

*1 PRO**

\
111

o

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC

EPA 840-F-25-001
January 2025

Fop additional information contact:

Olivia T. Tenorio

Program Manager

BECQ Water Quality Surveillance

and Nonpoint Source Program

670-664-8531

olivia.tenorio(S>beca.aov.mo

Avra Heller

U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 9
Watersheds Section
415-972-3773
Heller. Avra(S)eoa. gov


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