The Department of Agriculture (DA) is studying a massive canal network in Pampanga’s Candaba Swamp that could help control flooding while expanding irrigation, farming and agricultural transport.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. said the DA has commissioned a P150-million study by a Vietnamese university and engineering contractors to assess the feasibility of a canal system patterned after waterways in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

“These are not the small canals,” Laurel said, describing waterways that could be as big as 100 meters wide and seven meters deep and could accommodate vessels.

The roughly 6,000-hectare Candaba Swamp could serve as a large water-holding area during heavy rains, with excess water redirected into the proposed canals.

Laurel said parts of the swamp could become more suitable for cultivation once the water is managed through the network.

The canals could also provide an alternative route for moving agricultural products, reducing the farmers’ reliance on roads to transport their crops.