Watershed Management

The Coral Bay Watershed Management Project

For more than a decade, CBCC has demonstrated its ability to be an effective watershed management agency. CBCC is both a planning and implementation-oriented advocate for environmental protection balanced with economic growth within the community vision in Coral Bay. CBCC does this through partnerships with Virgin Islands government agencies, federal agencies and local businesses and individual volunteers. 

CBCC keeps a Coral Bay Watershed Management Plan up-to-date every few years with appropriate goals and initiatives.

These plans enable CBCC can continue its mission to protect the environment and support the community by:

• Applying for relevant grants and funding opportunities
• Completing low-impact and economic-growth planning activities
• Conducting and participating in scientific research for more informed decision-making
• Completing infrastructure improvement and resiliency projects
• Providing information, “best management practices”, and training programs to the community and stakeholders
• Developing creative and flexible solutions to water quality

Since 2008, CBCC has had three phases of the Coral Bay Watershed Management Plan. You can find them by clicking the phases below:

What is the Coral Bay Watershed and Why Manage it?

*Digital representation of the Coral Bay Watershed. Click on the blue arrows to see how our projects fall within the watershed.

A watershed is the area of land where all water drains into a common body of water. In the Coral Bay Watershed, rainfall and ghut water drain down the hillside, from the ridge that encases the Coral Bay and East End Quarters, into the ocean. Three out of the eleven watersheds on St. John fall within the Coral Bay Watershed Management Area.

Because the water in a watershed flows across the land, it can pick up sediment, pesticides, trash, bacteria, viruses, and other contaminents or pollutants and carry it into the ocean causing major harm to the marine ecosystem.

This harm to the marine ecosystem and distribution of pollution or contaminants can affect YOU. Everyone lives in a watershed! Watershed management can ensure that our community is not harmed by potential dangers in the watershed.

All of CBCC’s projects aim to manage elements of the watershed, including the planning of land and water use, stormwater runoff, hydrology of the land, the community vision, resources and waste management, history and culture, infrastructure, restoration, and more!