Are we in crisis anew?

Water concessionaires are left with no choice but to implement another rotational water interruption all over Metro Manila.

LONG lines and children fetching water in many ways and weight will become the norm once again as water concessionaires announced rationing starting today. AFP

Crisis is the only word water authorities have refrained from using. But Metro Manila is leading towards yet another shortage as water rationing is scheduled to be implemented in various parts of the metropolis starting today.

And politics could be a reason why we are parched once again.

The country’s water catchment capacity has not improved significantly to provide water supply amid the growing population and economy since the construction of the Angat Dam in the 1960s. Five decades later, Angat Dam remains the primary source of water of Metro Manila, but supply in the watershed is falling unprecedentedly.

Last March, water consumers faced what economists have been persistently warning the government about — a water crisis. The recent water service debacle should be an eye-opener to the country’s great deficiency in water resource investments.

But only a few months since then, water concessionaires are left with no choice but to implement another rotational water interruption all over Metro Manila. Thus, consumers are in fear of likely suffering another repeat of the water crisis until next year.

Economists claim the water woes probably demonstrate the lack of “political cohesion” to deal with the development of better water resources of the country.

Maynilad Water Services Inc. yesterday announced that it will implement another daily rotational service interruption starting today as the water level at Angat Dam continues to fall. Manila Water Co. Inc (MWC) also said it would take the same step.

“Since water allocation from Angat for Metro Manila and adjacent provinces is still at the reduced level of 40 cubic meters per second (cms) versus the normal allocation of 48 cms, the volume of water entering our treatment facilities is short by around 250 million liters per day (MLD),” Maynilad said in a statement.

In a separate statement, MWC said the service interruptions might be necessary to “ensure that the still limited water supply would last until next summer, and even the whole of 2020, in case the water level at Angat Dam would no longer reach the expected 212 meters above sea level by the end of 2019.”

Based on announcements posted on its social media pages, MWC consumers could see their faucets running dry for as long as 10 hours.

Maynilad customers, on the other hand, may experience water service interruption of up to 16 hours.

In a radio interview on Wednesday morning, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) administrator Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat said the upcoming rotational water service interruption does not necessarily mean there is a water shortage.

“These water interruption activities do not mean that there is no water. What the two concessionaires are doing is they make sure that there is an equitable distribution of the available water,” Salamat said.

“We are rationalizing the use of water at a certain level of that of Angat Dam — that’s called water level scenario. Since the water elevation in Angat is low, then we also have limited water to supply the consumers,” he clarified.

There has been scant rainfall over Angat and Ipo dams over the past days, resulting in the continuous decline of raw water levels in both watersheds. As of Wednesday morning, water elevation in Angat Dam is at 186.22 meters, slightly below the 186.77 meters recorded last Monday.

Meanwhile, the water level in Ipo Dam is at 100.43 meters, while La Mesa Dam has only 77.53 meters.

Comparing these figures from its year-ago levels, Salamat said there was a huge gap that the government needs to fill by mitigating contingency measures.

Salamat called on the public to be more responsible in stocking up on water and limit themselves to the amount they only need.

To prevent a full-blown water crisis from happening, the MWSS top official said they are hell-bent to augment Metro Manila’s water sources.

“The two water concessionaires are pursuing their ways to close the gap and fill the supply shortage in their areas. Part of their contingency plans include activating mobile treatment plants and deep wells,” Salamat disclosed.

Apart from those, the two water concessionaires were also directed to initiate cloud seeding activities until December than wait for the summer season when it is tougher to form cloud formations.

The MWSS chief admitted that they ran out of projects to cushion the looming water crisis. Until now, the construction of the Kaliwa Dam is the only proposed long-term solution to the problem.

“The short-term projects that may curb the shortage until the second quarter of 2020 includes the Sumag River, Wawa River and Calawis Antipolo projects. If these will be completed immediately, then we may be assured that we will have the water supply for the meantime,” Salamat said.

On Tuesday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has finally issued an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the controversial P18.7 billion Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon province. This was amid fierce opposition from environmental groups and indigenous communities due to alleged irregularities and risks for being a Chinese-funded project.

The ECC is a small step for the project, which has practically just moved in small phases, despite large investments allocated for it.

Kaliwa Dam, which is among the Duterte administration’s big-ticket projects, is seen as the major solution to the looming water shortage in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The release of the ECC came after the two private water concessionaires issued their water interruption schedules.

A letter addressed to the MWSS showed that the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) has already granted the ECC application for the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project since 11 October.