Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Amburayan revival sought By Jane Cadalig
THE Kapangan Municipal Government is up to revive its bodies of water not only to feed lowland farms with irrigation water but to grow aquatic products.
Kapangan Councilor Daniel Basigan said venturing into fish production is yet another alternative livelihood program the local government could develop for its constituents.
"We want to revive our communal bodies of water, as we want to bring back our aquatic resources," said Basigan, chairman of the Municipal Council committee on agriculture.
Fishery is one of the several livelihood programs the local government is working on for the farmers.
Basigan said the Municipal Government passed an ordinance regulating fishing on the communal bodies of water to preserve the town's aquatic resources.
The town's major body of water, the Amburayan River, is now subject to preservation efforts as communities in the lowland provinces plea request the protection of their major source of irrigation. Amburayan River is the only major river traversing the municipality.
Raw silk production, bee keeping and cut flower production are among the alternative livelihood programs the town and various government agencies are supporting to provide decent income to farmers in the town.
This comes in the heels of the town's bid to hold the Amburayan River summit in June to solicit ideas on how to save the river.
Councilor Manny Fermin, chairman of the Municipal Council committee on environment, said the idea of holding the Amburayan summit is an offshoot of a request from the lowland towns for communities in the north to protect their watersheds, which feed them with water for irrigation.
"We want to address the dwindling water flow of the Amburayan River, which is the main source of irrigation water of the lowland communities. We will consult barangays living along the river for this undertaking. We want to help maintain our water sources for our benefit and for people in the lowlands," Fermin said.
The Amburayan River, which drains from the municipalities of Atok and Kapangan, is one of the major water resources in the Cordillera region. Water from this river irrigates farmlands in lowland La Union.
