💧 Water and Power · U.S. Virgin Islands
WAPA, FEMA and territorial agencies reviewed infrastructure projects on July 15
The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said it met on July 15 with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Office of Disaster Recovery and the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency to review progress on electric and water infrastructure projects.
According to WAPA, electric projects were moving ahead faster than water-related work, while some delays remained because of pending approvals and coordination with the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority and WAPA's water division.
WAPA said FEMA reaffirmed its commitment to work with the utility to streamline project reviews. Interim Chief Executive Officer Ashley Bryan said the authority was balancing day-to-day operation of systems damaged in the 2017 storms with mitigation work intended to repair or replace critical infrastructure.
Financial issues were also discussed. Interim Chief Financial Officer Lorraine Kelly said WAPA's cash inflows were less than its outflows, making required cost-sharing difficult. WAPA said it had been receiving Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds through the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority to help cover FEMA project matches.
The authority said the Office of Disaster Recovery continued to prioritize WAPA projects and that FEMA committed additional planning support for a contingency plan for the St. Thomas-St. John electric grid. WAPA also said the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory had supported renewable energy and microgrid projects.
WAPA said FEMA was scheduled to tour the Richmond power plant on St. Croix later in the week of July 16 after approval of a replacement plan for the plant.