Erosion and trash: Top concerns at NMI beaches

BY MARK RABAGO
Saipan Correspondent

MICRO BEACH, Saipan — For decades, first Japanese tourists, then Korean and Chinese tourists have visited the Northern Mariana Islands for its pristine beaches, azure waters, and year-round tropical climate.

“Our beaches are extremely important for our tourism industry. We are a family friendly beach resort destination first and foremost so our white sandy beaches, crystal clear, seven shades of blue water, are a priceless asset for the [Northern] Marianas,” Christopher A. Concepcion, managing director of the Marianas Visitors Authority; told the Journal.

The top of the totem pole of the NMI’s beaches is Mañagaha Island, a small islet that’s a popular day-trip destination for tens of thousands of tourists each year and lies off the west coast of Saipan within its lagoon.

“Our beaches are still a top attraction for tourists. Mañagaha is our top attraction in the [Northern] Marianas, primarily because of its white sandy beach, crystal clear water, and abundant sea life perfect for snorkeling and other recreational activities. Saipan’s Micro Beach, Paupau Beach, Obyan Beach, Ladder Beach, Laulau Dive Site; Tinian’s Taga Beach, Tachogna Beach, Jones Beach are also popular destinations; and Rota’s famous Teteto Beach and Swimming Hole are always big draws. Pagan also has the only black sand beach in the Marianas and Micronesia,” Concepcion said.

But what has the NMI government done to maintain resources that are the lynchpin of a tourism-driven economy?

Luckily, Concepcion said MVA has partnered with the local government to maintain the beaches not only for tourist enjoyment but also to benefit locals — because a beach is always five to10 minutes away for most of the residents on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

“MVA relies on our partner agencies like the Division of Parks and Recreation, Coastal Resources Management, and others to manage and protect our beaches. We provide fuel and supplies to Parks and Rec to assist with their operations. We also conduct beach cleanups with other agencies and community groups throughout the year to get rid of litter and other waste,” he said.

Non-profit organizations and local clubs and their army of volunteers religiously conduct beach cleanups up and down the shores of the islands.

“We extend our sincere gratitude to the Lions Club, Eagles, MY WAVE, MTEC, Rotary Club of Saipan, Rotaract Club of Saipan, Mariana Islands Nature Alliance, and other community organizations for their contribution toward keeping our beaches and parks clean. It takes a village to ensure we have a clean environment for all to enjoy. We recognize their efforts and ask for their continued dedication in keeping our islands clean for residents and visitors,” Concepcion said.

As to a wish list for the well-being of the islands’ beaches, Concepcion said, “We would like to see less litter, less pollutants entering our ocean, a rerouting of the water runoff that occurs every single time it rains, less environmental impact on our beaches. We’d also like to see more enforcement of the anti-littering law, more cleanups, more amenities for the public to use including clean working restrooms and shower heads.”
 
Beach maintenance
Michael Cruz, director of the Division of Parks and Recreation said he and his 33-strong staff are responsible for the upkeep of public beaches on Saipan.

“Public Law 11-106 gave us jurisdiction to manage and maintain beaches and then Public Law 14-27 gave us the authority to manage and maintain all the tourist sites as well,” he said.

The team cleans and maintains 14 beaches up and down the spine of the island, namely San Antonio Beach, Fiesta/Hyatt Beach, Afetna Beach or Pak-Pak Beach, Obyan Beach, Ladder Beach, Tang Beach, Marine Beach, Oleai Beach, Fishing Base Beach, Makaka Beach, Paupau Beach, Tanapag Beach, CUC Beach, and Wing Beach.

Cruz said Paupau Beach usually has most accumulation of trash because it’s a popular destination for local families. Mail packages from around Paupau Beach easily tops the list of the most unusual type of trash found, he said.

Cruz said photos of the mail postal boxes left on the beachside identifying the owners was sent to the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality. “They’re the proper agency to prosecute,” he said.

He said the beach beside the 13 Fisherman Monument has also become problematic because a lot of homeless people use the pavilion there.

Cruz said most of the trash left is after parties and includes beer cans and Styrofoam containers. “So that's common … but we implemented a system where we have somebody picking up trash every Saturday and Sunday because we don't want those debris to go to the water.”

He said old oil drums have been pivotal at beach sites so that trash doesn’t enter the ocean, and he thanked the local Lions clubs and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. for providing them. CUC just promised to donate 20 more drum trash cans to Parks & Rec, Cruz said.

“We just ask the people — whenever there's trash cans available, dump it in — but when it's full, please don't just leave it all around for the dogs to scatter. But we do try to pick it up every day so they shouldn't be full,” he said.

Parks & Rec also has rangers, who collect trash even after hours, he said.

 “We have two rangers on our staff, but we kind of make everybody be rangers by training them, but they won't issue citations, as only the rangers could issue them,” he said.

Cruz also said that Parks & Rec has a $12,000 yearly budget to pay the Department of Public Works’ transfer stations and landfill.

According to the 2023 Global Trash Index from the International Coastal Cleanup that year, 6,139 pounds of trash made up of 20,005 items were collected from the NMI by 1,707 ICC volunteers last year.

The trash collected was 2,746 cigarette butts, 933 plastic beverage bottles, 1,072 food wrappers (candy, chips, etc.), 424 plastic bottle caps, 460 plastic grocery bags, 713 other plastic bags, 132 foam food containers, 134 plastic food containers, 210 paper cups and plates, and 170 plastic straws and stirrers.
 
Beach sand erosion
Aside from trash pollution, another emerging problem is erosion of sand at beach sites.

Mary Fem Urena, coastal resources planner and the head of the Shoreline Monitoring Program of the Division of Coastal Resources Management; said shorelines fronting the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, the former Hyatt Regency Saipan, and Micro Beach have seen notable coastal erosion from 2019 to 2024.

She said her division has conducted routine beach profiling surveys to identify shoreline trends on the beaches of Saipan, Mañagaha, Tinian, and Rota. A beach profile is a line graph from elevation and distance measurements collected from the field. These lines are compared to see the change over time.

“Beach profiles inform that this shoreline has lost more than 60 feet of beach width from 2019 to 2024. The beach profile data and reports are available on DCRM's Shoreline Monitoring webpage.” See https://dcrm.gov.mp/our-programs/coastal-resources-planning/shoreline-monitoring/.

Urena said while coastal erosion is a natural process within lagoons and shoreline areas, the loss of recreational beaches and infrastructure close to the shore is a rising concern.

“BECQ-DCRM joins [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] and the rest of the nation in advocating for nature-based solutions and living shorelines before considering traditional hardening, such as sea walls. Other coastal areas, such as Puerto Rico and Hawaii, teach us that shoreline hardening may result in sandy beach loss due to downdrift erosion or scouring.”

She said NMI government agencies are collaborating on a short-term hazard mitigation and shoreline stabilization project to temporarily restore the shoreline fronting the former Hyatt, using sandbags and local boulders extracted from Route 36 or the newly built Windward/Chalan Kalabera Road. Additionally, they’ve also collected sand from the Sugar Dock dredging project, which is considered beach quality.

“These agencies include the Department of Public Lands, Bureau of Environmental Coastal Quality, Division of Public Works, Office of the Saipan Mayor, Office of Planning and Development, and Department of Corrections. The Marianas Visitors Authority and Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan have generously donated 1,000 biodegradable burlap bags for this effort. DOC will provide labor for preparation and installation. The sandbags and boulders will cover the exposed historic hazardous metal structure and fill the eroding dock bordering Micro Beach. Recently, this interagency working group has included MB Capital (new lease owner of the Hyatt property) and Coldwell Solar, … are integral partners in the installation of the stabilization project once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit is issued, hopefully before the end of the year.”

For long-term solutions, Urena said the Office of Planning and Development is working on achieving contractual services for a scoping study covering the shoreline from Micro Beach to the Grandvrio Resort Saipan.

“This scoping project is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant. Technical coastal engineering assessments/modeling may be instrumental in informing how the sand is moving along our shoreline area and within our lagoon so we can select an appropriate stabilization measure that would not have unintended consequences.”
 
Water quality
The 2022 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 305(b) and 303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report noted that 82.5 coastal miles out of the 240.5 coastal shoreline miles in the CNMI (34.3%) were found to be fully supporting all the designated uses set forth in the Clean Water Act, which make them “fishable and swimmable.”

This includes the support and propagation of aquatic life, fish and shellfish consumption, recreational use, and aesthetic enjoyment designated uses, according to the report.

“The remaining 158 coastal miles (65.7%) were unsupportive of at least one designated uses or lacked sufficient information to assess their attainment. Coastal water impairments were either caused by pollutant concentrations exceeding the CNMI Water Quality Standards, and/or by a non-pollutant. Examples of non-pollutants include: diminished Aquatic Life Use Support Function, alteration of hydrology, flow regime change, invasive species, etc.,” the report said.

As in previous years the most common sources of Enterococci contamination are from sources such as failing sewer lines and other municipal wastewater collection, or individual onsite wastewater collection systems, and non-point sources.

Nonpoint sources include sediment-laden stormwater with naturally occurring Enterococci from urban runoff, secondary coral roads, erosion from construction sites and new developments, illicit wastewater discharges from animal pens and outhouses, waste from free range feral and domestic livestock and birds; and—in the case of remote tourist locations—a lack of available public restroom facilities at those sites.



“However, it should be noted that some public beach advisories happen at sites unlikely to have true fecal contamination,” the report said. “These sites are often at remote coastlines with high surf, or drainages carrying soil-laden stormwater with naturally occurring Enterococci, which is known to grow in tropical environments. In these instances, the exceedances would trigger a public beach advisory even though there is little chance of their actual fecal contamination that could cause a potential human health risk.” mbj