Baguio water district assures enough supply amid El Niño

March 24, 2019 Community Billboard

BAGUIO CITY — This mountain resort city will not experience water shortage during the summer season despite the El Niño or dry spell, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said on Wednesday.

“During our coordination meeting with Baguio Water District (BWD), general manager Salvador Royeca said that we have 65 deep wells in the city of Baguio, and we are only using 57 while the
remaining eight serves as our reserve so there will be no water shortage during the height of El Niño or dry spell,” Domogan said during the weekly media forum.

Domogan called for a coordination meeting with the BWD and other stakeholders to allow them to see the water supply situation and be ready for eventualities.

The meeting was called due to the alarming situation being experienced in Metro Manila where residents line up to fetch water. “Engr. Royeca assured that Baguio will not experience what Manila is currently experiencing now,” Domogan said.

He, however, urged residents to save water, properly use the resource, and store water in sealed containers. “Despite the assurance that there will be no water shortage, I encourage our
beloved constituents to store water using containers,” he said.

He said the BWD delivers around 58,000 cubic meters of water daily. The city’s water demand increases to 65,000 cubic meters or more daily during the peak tourism season.

Domogan said the city’s drinking water comes from deep wells. “Seventy percent of our drinking water is from deep wells which are being extracted by BWD. Around 20 percent comes from Busol watershed, 5 percent from Buyog watershed and the remaining 5 percent is sourced from the Sto.Tomas catchment basin in Mount Santo Tomas,” he said.

The BWD earlier reported that it had commissioned the Sto. Tomas Rain Basin to start storing water in 2018, which will augment the supply during the summer season.

It also commissioned the additional deep wells in Tamawan, South Drive, Military Cut-Off, and Busol Tip-Top assuring enough water supply for Baguio city.

The water utility serves 122 out of 129 barangays in Baguio aside from portions of Tuba town in Benguet province with a total billed connection of 41,974. Tuba is adjacent to Baguio City along Marcos
Highway.

Pamela Mariz Geminiano/PNA