THE Cebu City Council had earlier requested the Metropolitan Cebu Water District to expedite its desilting measures of the Buhisan dam following the decrease of water production.
However, MCWD said desilting the Buhisan dam, one of its water sources, poses challenges, primarily due to its location.
Reports said the request was made through a resolution sponsored by Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera which the Council approved during its regular session on April 24, 2024.
MCWD, in a statement on Sunday, April 28, said there had been attempts of securing a contractor to conduct desilting at the Buhisan dam, no contractor was willing to undertake the job due to logistical challenges.
"Considering the narrow, steep, and winding road leading to the dam, it is impractical to transport dredging or desilting equipment to the area," a portion of the water district's statement reads.
Buhisan dam is located in Barangay Buhisan, an upland barangay in Cebu City.
The water district said it opted to employ local residents in the area and neighboring barangays to perform regular manual desilting.
Pesquera, in her resolution, said that the dam originally has a capacity of 10,000 cubic meters per day, but has now reduced to 3,143 cubic meters per daydue to siltation.
But MCWD claimed that the maximum production of the dam was only between 6,000 to 7,000 cubic meters per day, and not 10,000 cubic meters per day.
MCWD also attributed the reduced water production of the dam to El Niño phenomenon which led to the drying up of the dam's tributaries, and not due to silt.
Aside from El Niño, MCWD said the flow of the river and its tributaries, which replenish the Buhisan Dam, has significantly reduced due to climate change.
MCWD also clarified that its cash balance as of March 31 stood at P1.4 billion.
This, after Pesquera stated in a separate resolution that MCWD's cash balance is P100 million, which she got from a recent news. (JJL)