US Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism Association

On Oct. 22, the Virgin Islands Conservation Society, the Smith Bay Community Action Foundation, Coral World Ocean Park, Coki Dive Center, Blue Flag USVI, UVI and community volunteers joined the Ocean Conservancy for Coastweeks Cleanup events to clean the Smith Bay Ball Park.

The Virgin Islands Conservation Society has been spearheading the Smith Bay-Water Bay Nonpoint Source Pollution Education/Outreach Project, partially funded through the Federal Clean Water Act Section 319(h) grant. It is a combination of watershed assessment and management planning, and a watershed education and outreach campaign.

This project is the first of several steps necessary to alleviate the excessive flooding and non-point source pollution in the lower elevations of the Smith Bay and Water Bay watershed. For the past 50 years, the area has seen increased population and land development which have outpaced public services and infrastructure that could support the management of storm-runoff and other development related environmental hazards.

Thank you to Caribbean Packaging for supplying trash bags for this and several other scheduled clean-ups for Coastweeks in Sept. and Oct.

The Coastal Cleanups in the USVI are organized by the University of the Virgin Islands Marine Advisory Service. If you would like to get involved in future events, please send an email to Howard.Forbes@live.uvi.edu or call 340-513 7203.