said Surigao City, located at the eastern side of the country, is experiencing a dry season because it falls under Type 4 Weather Cycle Disturbance.
He told MindaNews that the Parang-parang watershed in Barangay Mat-i, the city’s main source of potable water, is currently producing only 24,000 cubic meters per day from the usual 30,000 cubic meters per day or more than 30 percent reduction of the water yield.
Ensomo said the city’s more than 18,000 households require a production capacity of at least 180 liters per second.
He said had they not been able to tap other sources last year, the water crisis that hit the city beginning May 2 would have been worse than in 2010.
In a span of two years, the number of consumers has risen from 16,000 to 18,000.
The water district, however, covers only 22 barangays in Surigao City. The other 21 barangays are not served because there are located in different islands.
Ensomo said residents of the island barangays are also feeling the scarcity of water supply.
He warned consumers that this extreme weather condition will last until September.
This month, consumers experienced insufficient water supply especially peak hours, he said. .
Worst hit are barangays located on higher elevation like Capitol Road, Ceniza Heights, Silay Hill, Pag-asa Hill in Barangay Washington, Espina Extension in Barangay Taft; Habitat, Canlanipa Homes in Barangay Canlanipa, Payawan in Barangay Luna.
“We don’t have water from 9 o’clock in the morning until 1 in the afternoon,” said an irate resident, Andres Dacuron of Payawan 2, Barangay Luna.[]
Some low-lying urban barangays such as San Juan, Sabang and Rizal have been experiencing the same problem.
The SMWD tapped three smaller water sources in June 2010 near Parang-parang which were able to meet 18 percent of the city’s water needs then.
These sources – the creeks of Kanmahat, Parang-parang Gamay and Mabini — have a combined capacity of 30 liters per second.
Also last year, the water utility found other water sources. But these are ground water coming from deep wells — one in Barangay Imma part of the town of Sison in Surigao del Norte which produces 90 cubic meters per hour. There are five others deep wells located in Barangays Poctoy and Serna in Surigao City but of five water wells only one is reliable because there of poor water quality in the four other wells.
Ensomo said the four deep wells have iron content problem. The good one has been producing 70 cubic meters per hour or equivalent to seven fire trucks per hour.
SMWD is looking for other possible water sources in and out of the city, he said.
But Ensomo stressed the inadequate water supply problem could have been addressed if the 200,000 cubic-meter impounding dam in Parang-Parang area will be constructed.
But the planned construction has been hampered by the presence of over a thousand small-scale illegal miners inside and outside the Surigao Protected Watershed Area.[]
