A WATER and electricity summit is set to be held on March 26 to address the mounting queries of residents on what has been done by the Zamboanga City Government amid the present water shortage and rotational blackouts here.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the summit aims to inform the stakeholders about this city’s short, medium and long-term plans to mitigate the effects of El Niño on water and power supplies.
The Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) is implementing a rationing scheme to be able to provide potable water to the concessionaires while the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco) is imposing a two-day rotational blackout daily.
This city has been placed under state of calamity brought about by the prolonged drought spawn by the “El Niño” weather phenomenon.
Salazar said the ZCWD is only serving 415,000 or half of the 816,799 of the population as of the 2015 census based on the data gathered by City Hall.
The chief executive added that the average water consumption of this city is 94 million liters daily (MLD), of which 64 MLD are taken from different water sources like deep wells, Tumaga and Anuling rivers.
“This is a challenge for Zamboanga. Being a progressive city with increased water usage means increase in demand for water,” Salazar said.
“Here in this city, a person needs 180 liters of water a day compared to the 210 liters a person needs daily in Manila,” she added.
The mayor said the increased economic activities is a sign of urbanization, and among the possible solutions is for people to conserve water and learn the so-called water demand management. (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)