Mt. Kanlaon water sources monitored

THE Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) in Bago City will start monitoring next week rivers and other bodies of water near Mt. Kanlaon amid possible occurrence of contamination brought by the activities of the volcano.

Concordio Remoroza, head of Cenro-Bago, Friday said the monitoring will be held in coordination with concerned local government units (LGUs) and agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB).

Following a phreatic eruption last weekend, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported that the active volcano ejected dark ash and steam accompanied by rumbling sound.

The activity resulted to an ashfall in three barangays of La Carlota City, La Castellana, and Bago City in Negros Occidental.

As of Friday's monitoring, the agency recorded 1,217 volcanic earthquakes over the past 24 hours. Mt. Kanlaon remains restive and under Alert Level 2.

Remoroza said they will prioritize rivers in areas near the volcano, those under their jurisdiction, which are more vulnerable to water contamination.

For upland areas, Cenro-Bago’s coverage is from E.B. Magalona to La Castellana. For coastal areas, its jurisdiction is only until Pontevedra.

“One priority is the Bago River since it is one of the biggest bodies of water connected with many other tributaries passing through portions of Kanlaon volcano,” he added.

In March last year, a fish kill occurred in two villages of Isabela town, situated along Binalbagan River also in southern Negros Occidental.

Aside from Isabela, fish kill incidents were also reported in some areas of Binalbagan, La Castellana, and Moises Padilla located along the said river.

Authorities said it was possibly caused by sulfur contamination following heavy rains that washed out ash fall emitted by Mt. Kanlaon.

The Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) had said that high contamination of sulfur in the river might have resulted from the pyroclastic material flow brought by the ashfall emission of the volcano which, according to Phivolcs, is “a normal occurrence.”

On Wednesday, Phivolcs reported that a sulfur dioxide emission at Kanlaon volcano was measured at an average of 687 tonnes per day.

On the same day, the province started to experience intermittent rains brought by then Tropical Depression Urduja, which is now a storm.

Remoroza said they are bracing for the possibility that the ash ejected by the volcano recently may be washed out by the rain and contaminate river waters.

“As of now, we have not received fish kill reports,” Remoroza said as he warned though that communities should take precautionary measures like avoiding intake of water and fishery products from "sources" affected by ashfall or steam emission. (with reports from Teresa D. Ellera)

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