How Emergency Watershed Protection benefits local communities
NRCS Caribbean engineer inspects Puerto Rico EWP project after heavy rains and follows up with residents to ensure proper function of the project.
On June 11, 2020, NRCS Engineer Luis “Heriberto” Rosado visited Aibonito to check on an Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP) project (#PR-AIB-004) and verify its operation after the heavy rains of June 9th. Sr. Manuel Torres and his wife Brenda Liz Rosario, immediate neighbors of the project, met with Eng. Rosado and expressed how very grateful they were for the work carried out. The couple said that, had it not been for the sediment removal from the stream and cleaning of the pipeline under the road, the water rise caused by the recent rains would have flooded their front yard as it has on previous occasions (top right photo). Despite the fact that the water rose over the highway due to the limited size of the existing pipe, the restored capacity of the downstream channel prevented the flood from reaching the Torres Rosario family’s property (bottom right photo). They gladly shared their photos with NRCS, at right.
“The Torres Rosario family wishes to express our gratitude to contractor Luis Roig (Coayuco Construction), to the Caribe Soil and Water Conservation District (Sponsor), to USDA-NRCS (EWP program administrator) and to their respective employees for the work to clear the sediment and debris from the stream,” said Mr. Torres.