THE government will conduct cloud-seeding operations in Regions 2 and 12 to counter the ill effects of El Niño, which a water concessionaire blamed for the water-supply interruption in the eastern part of Metro Manila.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said the operations will be conducted by planes of the Philippine Air Force in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA) following the release of P18.3 million for the activity.
The cloud seeding, which will be carried out until March 21 to induce much-need rain, was supposed to have been initiated on Thursday, according to Jalad, but the Air Force through its spokesman, Major Aristides Galang, said they could only commence the operation on Saturday or Sunday as the Nomad planes were still being prepared along with the equipment.
“So most probably, it is still tentative [if it’s] on Saturday or Sunday, and then the initial area will be Cauayan, Isabela,” Galang said, adding that the cloud seeding will be undertaken by the 900th Air Force Weather Group.
The cloud-seeding activities were agreed upon by the council in a meeting late Wednesday afternoon. The Department of Social Welfare and Development reported at the meeting it has allocated a standby fund of P11.8 million for family food packs as well as cash-for-work programs.
Jalad said that the agriculture department reported that El Niño has already resulted in production loss of P464.3 million and volume loss of P22.918 million in the agriculture sector as of March 8.
“[The] total area affected has reached 13,679 hectares, affecting 13,679 farmers in.… Regions 9, 10, 11, 12, Mimaropa and BARMM. DA conducted field validation to assess the damage and losses and continues to monitor standing crops in areas at risk,” he said.
Several areas, including Zamboanga city, the province of Zamboanga Sibugay, Pagadian City and San Jose in Occidental Mindoro have already declared a state of calamity due to the effects of the El Niño-spawned drought.
Other measures
During the meeting, the council also discussed the prevailing problem of water supply that has already affected more than a million residents in the eastern part of Metro Manila, most of whom have been forced to line up for water rations, especially in the cities of Pasig and Mandaluyong.
Jalad said, however, that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources reported that Angat Dam, the main source of water for Metro Manila, is still within its normal operating level at 199.94 meters of elevation compared to its minimum operating level at 180 meters.
“The decline of La Mesa Dam, according to MWSS [Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System], is caused by the increase in water-treatment production of Manila Water. The water allocation of Manila Water from MWSS sourced from Angat Dam is 18.5 cubic meters per second [1600 million liters per day],” Jalad said.
“The water demand from Manila Water consumers, however, has increased to 20.25 cms [1750 million liters per day], forcing the latter to source the deficit from La Mesa Dam,” he added.
To remedy the problem, a technical working group which included the MWSS, National Irrigation Administration, the weather bureau Pagasa, Manila Water and the other concessionaire, Maynilad, has “committed to continue their close coordination to ensure that water-supply releases from the Angat Dam are optimized.”
“Cross border gate opening shall be done in which 50 MLD [millions of liters per day] from Maynilad will be delivered to Manila Water. MWSS also presented its contingency plans, which include rotating water supply and pressure management, energization of Cardona Water Treatment plant on March 31, 2019, that can provide an additional 50 MLD,” Jalad said.
Among others, the technical working group agreed to go for a “nonrevenue” water recovery, utilization of backwash from water-treatment plant and deployment of water tankers and mobile water-treatment plants “in which five units shall come from Manila Water and three standby units from Maynilad.”
The MWSS would also activate its backup deep wells in case there would be need to augment the water supply.
“On this, hospitals with standby deep well will be the priority,” Jalad said.
Also, the Department of the Interior and Local Government will issue a memorandum that will require local government units to enact ordinances that would curb illegal connections and encourages the prudent use of water.
The ordinances would allow water concessionaires and water utilities to conduct emergency repair of leaks.
At Camp Crame, National Police chief Police General Oscar Albayalde has directed all police units in areas affected by the temporary water shortage in Metro Manila and Rizal to observe water-conservation measures in all camps and offices to help avert a possible water crisis in Luzon at the onset of the dry season.
PNP spokesman Police Colonel Bernard Banac said Albayalde ordered headquarters support units in camps and facilities affected to detail inspectors who will check on wasteful or unnecessary water usage.
“Local PNP units are directed to ensure safety and security of water-service providers against unruly crowd and persons who may want to provoke chaos in the water-distribution points,” Albayalde’s directive read.
‘Black Friday’
Bayan said it will stage a “Black Friday protest” against Manila Water and MWSS over what it said was Manila Water’s “corporate greed” that has caused the current water crisis in Metro Manila.
“The claim that El Niño is to blame for the crisis has been exposed as a big fat lie. Manila Water has been expanding its customer base even if current facilities are unable to meet the growing demand. It is Manila Water’s obligation to provide the needs of its customers. It has failed to do so,” Bayan said in a statement.
“Manila Water earned a whopping P6.5 billion in 2018 and another P6.5 billion in 2017. It was even granted a rate hike of P6.50 per cubic meter spread over five years. It has expanded its operations overseas to include Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Yet it has failed to provide the necessary facilities to meet the demands in its concession area in Metro Manila,” it added.