Cagayan de Oro gears up for ‘Super El Niño’

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — City Mayor Rolando Uy convened municipal department heads last Tuesday to finalize proactive emergency measures and strategic response plans against a looming “Super El Niño” drought expected to affect the region.

During the coordination meeting, Uy emphasized the need to guarantee continuous water rationing across vulnerable barangays in close coordination with the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD).

Weather forecasters expect the peak of Super El Niño to begin this November and persist through the first quarter of 2027.

Uy assured residents that the local government is prepared to mitigate the impact of the prolonged dry season on households and local agriculture.

To address prospective supply deficits, the COWD has identified two major rivers in the city as alternative water sources.

Dr. Gerry Cano, COWD chairman, said the utility’s technical working group has completed plans for a P5-million water treatment facility designed to draw from the Bobonawan and Cagayan Rivers.

“The plan is already in place; we are just waiting for the funding of the project,” Cano said.

Tapping the two rivers forms part of a broader 10-year development and modernization program for 2025–2035, estimated between P9.3 billion and P12 billion, aimed at overhauling aging municipal water infrastructure and improving service reliability.

Cano cited that the decade-long master plan prioritizes large-scale repiping to replace decades-old transmission lines and drastically reduce non-revenue water lost through leaks and illegal connections.