BAGUIO CITY - The mayor of this city foresees a water shortage in the near future, prompting him to instruct concerned agencies to explore more water sources that would fit a medium to long-term program that would ensure water security even under extreme climatic conditions such as El Niño."If the National Capital Region (NCR), a low-lying region, suffered from a water shortage even with the onset of the rainy season due to the drying up of the Angat Dam, the worst case scenario has yet to happen in the city (of Baguio)," said Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan.This early, he has directed concerned city departments and the Baguio Water District (BWD) to come out with concrete efforts to identify potential water sources that will address the city's growing water requirements.Aside from revisiting the controversial bulk water project, Domogan said the BWD must be able to identify additional sources of water within or outside the city the soonest possible time.
He said this will prevent local residents and tourists from experiencing a water rationing similar to the one encountered by the people of Metro Manila during the water crisis.During the prolonged drought, residents living in highly elevated areas fail to receive their thrice-a-week water supply for over two months prompting them to buy their water needs from fully-booked water delivery companies operating in the different parts of the city.Domogan emphasized concerned agencies must not wait for the water shortage to worsen, thus, they must be able to formulate appropriate plans that will extensively address the increasing demand for water due to the rapid population growth in the urban centers.
The total demand of water in the city is approximately 50,000 cubic meters per day and drastically increasing compared to the production of 50,000 cubic meters with a whopping 40 percent systems loss thereby forcing the water district to regulate the distribution of water to the residents and business establishments.In the failed multi-billion bulk water project, the supposed investor was to provide the BWD with over 50,000 cubic meters of potable water daily but several interest groups decided to oppose the same since the source of water is a former mining area of the Benguet corporation in nearby Itogon, Benguet.
