Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior, completed his visit to St. John by announcing a grant of $981,000 to begin construction of a potable water system in Coral Bay.
The plan is for the Water and Power Authority to build a water desalinization plant on the eastern end of the island. Coral Bay has no source of water other than rain collected in cisterns or water trucks delivering from Cruz Bay where public water from St. Thomas is piped in.
The money will be used to purchase an acre of land, and build piping for the desal plant.
Kempthorne also met with Gov. John de Jongh (pictured together) to agree on steps for finding land for construction of a high school on St. John. They visited a 10-acre site which has been proposed as a location for the school.