Coral Bay Community Council is excited to announce that from now until the end of the year, CBCC will be updating the 2015 Coral Bay Drinking Water and Wastewater Plans to continue to improve drinking water and wastewater systems for the Coral Bay community and beyond. Given the plans are almost 10 years old, and the community has experienced a higher-than-normal turnover of residents leaving the island due to the 2017 hurricanes, COVID-19 pandemic, increase in cost of living, and aging populations returning stateside, now is an opportune time to update them.
We will also continue to coordinate drinking water testing, host workshops for residents and professionals, and provide one-on-one consultation. To learn more about the project, please join CBCC for a project kick-off meeting on Friday, Feb. 7 at Our Place from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
“We strive to support a healthy and happy community by empowering them with the knowledge and tools to properly operate their systems as well as continue to look for new options and technologies that will make life easier and systems more resilient to our daily challenges and cost,” explains CBCC Environmental Projects Manager, Rachel McKinley.
Part of accomplishing a happy and healthy community is getting input from the community itself. Watershed Coordinator and project lead, Maya Craig says, “CBCC will be involving the Coral Bay community and folks across the USVI in this process. Throughout the year, there will be community meetings, workshops, surveys, and public commentary. Keep an eye out for CBCC outreach on our Facebook, Instagram, newsletters, and posted flyers.”
Updating the plans will include addressing findings from the past nine years of research on unsafe system practices such as discharging effluent water on top of soil, using improper amounts of bleach to purify drinking water, and limited system maintenance, while offering healthier, proven treatment alternatives. The plans and the research reports are available on our website at: https://coralbaycommunitycouncil.org/water-and-waste-water/drinking-water-wastewater-research-projects-reports-plans/
If you have any questions about your drinking water and wastewater systems, call us at 340-776-2099, email Water@CoralBayCommunityCouncil.org or stop by the CBCC office (in Coral Bay across from the fire station) for answers.
The Coral Bay Community Council is a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2003 by volunteer residents with the purpose of acting as a community advocate, government liaison, and trusted information and research source. As a watershed management association, CBCC works to protect the Coral Bay watershed, watersheds across the territory, and the people that live within them.
Coral Bay Community Council is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
This material is based upon work supported under a grant by the Rural Utilities Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are solely the responsibility of the Coral Bay Community Council and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Rural Utilities Service.
