TWENTY-one barangays in Carmen, Cebu have been affected by a decreasing supply of water due to the intense heat brought about by El Niño.
This prompted Baltazar Tribunalo, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief, to recommend that the whole province prepare for the impact of prolonged hot weather.
For his part, Carmen Municipal DRRMO chief Roger Suico said Mayor Martin Gerard Villamor asked the town council to declare a state of calamity.
Some affected villages are Luyang, Cogon East, Cogon West, Dawis Norte, Dawis Sur, Puente, Baring, Cantumog, Poblacion, Cantipay, Cantukong, Caurasan, Corte, Hagnaya, Ipil, Lanipga, Liboron, Lower Natimao-an, Sac-on, Triumfo and Upper Natimao-an.
Suico said they asked the Cebu Provincial Government for help.
In his letter to Provincial Engineer Hector Jamor dated Feb. 26, Villamor asked for help in improving the water system of Carmen by constructing a water impoundment in Barangay Corte to funnel more water to the reservoir.
Suico said the water supply comes from a spring in Carmen. The water started to get scarce last January.
During the full meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Cebu City on Thursday, Feb. 28, Tribunalo said there is a need for emergency preparedness for El Niño’s effects.
In 2015 and 2016, El Niño was felt in Cebu Province, but the Capitol had prepared for it.
Tribunalo said teams from the Provincial Agriculture Office, Provincial Veterinary, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office will tour Cebu Province to check the damage caused by El Niño.
To prepare for the El Niño, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) is developing four wells in separate locations in its service area.
Also referred to as the dry spell, the El Niño is characterized by the absence or a reduced volume of rainfall in an area.
In Metro Cebu, more than 69 percent of the water supply comes largely from groundwater sources—which are not directly affected by the shortage of rainfall.
However, surface water sources, which supply both the northern and southern portion of MCWD’s service area, are affected by the dry spell.
Presently, the total production of surface water sources is 74,000 cubic meters (cu. m.) per day or 31 percent of the average daily production of 238,000 cu. m. per day.
The biggest bulk is the supply from the Luyang River in Carmen at 35,000 cu. m. per day, which is covered by a bulk water supply contract with MCWD, the Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. and the Cebu Provincial Government.
The next one is the supply from the Jaclupan Facility which is at 33,000 cu. m. per day. Around 6,000 cu. m. per day is expected to be lost if the Buhisan Dam’s water level goes down due to the dry spell.
MCWD is also in talks with local government leaders to allow MCWD to explore some well sites so their constituents can be served.
Consumers are advised to use only the water that they need to allow the existing supply to last until the El Niño passes.
MCWD may implement a water rationing schedule to be able to supply all its consumers in the entire service area. (From SCG of SuperBalita Cebu, KAL, PR)