Philippines: Iloilo Water District Utility to Search for Other Sources of Water

Iloilo City, Philippines: The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) of the Philippines is to assist the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD), of the eastern province of Iloilo find new sources of water. However the assistance will not extend to the LWUA taking over MIWD, reports the Manila Times in a April 6 article.LWUA Board chairman, Prospero Pichay, told local media over the weekend that his water utility stood ready to help MIWD discuss and implement short and long-term water plans. He added his administration will send an expert to MIWD to help and is considering the placing of an extra member to the current five man board of MIWD as part of the restructuring.

One of the main problems facing the MIWD is to find an alternative source of water as the current situation sees the District facing a shortage of the resource. The problem is exacerbated by leaking pipes which Pichay said meant only fifty percent of the water intended for the concessionaires ever gets through.

One option being considered by the administration is to use the Jalaur River as long-term water source.

The Jalaur is the seventeenth largest river system in the Philippines in terms of drainage basin size and is very important to the district providing both irrigation for farmers and potable water for its inhabitants. It travels 123 kilometers from its source to its mouth in the Guimaras Strait and drains an estimated 1,503 square kilometers.

The Philippines National Irrigation Administration recently announced a P10 billion project known as the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project (JRMP) Stage II. The initiative would see a 145-meter high arch dam constructed across the river in central Panay with the intention of providing a reservoir which would give farmers year-round access to water for irrigation for 36,000 hectares of land growing rice.

The dam would also be used for power generation and municipal and industrial water for Metro Iloilo, reports the Manila Times.

[Above image: Tap Water. Credit: Jan Tik/flickr

Published in OOSKAnews Water Weekly: Southern and Eastern Asia edition.