Tuesday, August 19, 2008 DCWD, Hedcor resolving Tamugan river dispute By Carlo P. Mallo
THE Davao City Water District (DCWD) and Hedcor are still working on the possibility of a win-win solution over their rift on the use of the Tamugan river.
Both companies claim the river as vital to maintain their operations.
DCWD general manager Rodora Gamboa said they are now cooperating with Hedcor to reach a win-win solution.
"They submitted their proposal to us of a win-win solution," Gamboa said. "We are now reviewing it."
Due to some highly technical aspects of the proposal, Gamboa said they requested for an extension of ten days in order for them to fully review the proposal and come up with their resolution.
"By August 21, we will come up with a resolution," he added.
The conflict started when Hedcor filed an application for it to build a dam in the upstream portion of Tamugan River for its 20-megawatt hydropower plant project.
This was contested by the DCWD as the project threatens to pollute the fresh surface water of Tamugan, which the water utility plans to tap in order to expand its services to far-flung areas.
The water utility has already submitted an opposition paper to the proposed hydroelectric power plant.
The DCWD taps 99 percent of its water from ground water sources, while only less than one percent comes from surface water.
However, Gamboa cited the increasing demand for water with the city's growing population.
"Part of our sound water management plan is to ensure adequate supply of good water," Gamboa said.
Fearing the possibility of over extracting the ground water supply of the city, Gamboa said they are now venturing into tapping surface water.
The DCWD is extracting at least 212,000 cubic meters of groundwater daily, while a five-year forecast shows the daily extraction to increase to 314,000 cubic meters daily.
