Water supply from irrigation in Kalinga, Apayao drop

March 17, 2019 Provincial

The National Irrigation Administration – Cordillera (NIA-CAR) water supply from its irrigation facilities in the provinces of Kalinga and Apayao reduced due to the dwindling supplies these past weeks as a result of the prevailing dry spell.
NIA-CAR regional manager Benito Espique, Jr. said Friday (March 15) that initial reports from their field offices said water level in several communal, river irrigation systems (RIS) and existing national irrigation systems (NIS) in the said areas dropped significantly due to effect of dry weather.
Es-pique said it affected the Upper Chico River Irrigation System (UCRIS) in Kalinga and the West Apayao-Abulug Irrigation System (WAAIS) in Apayao.
He said UCRIS irrigates 15,000 hectares of farmlands in Pinukpuk, Tabuk City of Kalinga and the municipality of Quezon,Mallig of Isabela, while WAAIS irrigates 4,700 hectares.
The government agency hinted that in the event that water from its source will further be reduced as spawned by the El Niño phenomenon, they will be forced to schedule supply of water to its service areas.
As this developed, NIACAR urged farmer-irrigators as well as the public to conserve water. The NIA-CAR official said his agency has intensified its monitoring of water sources in order to maximize the supply of water to irrigate target farm areas. Es-pique explained that during dry months is also the period used to conduct clearing of canals and maintenance of irrigation systems spread in the region in time for the next cropping season.
Meanwhile, status of project implementation for CY 2018 allocation (PHP1.534-Billion), some 200 out of 278 projects have been completed which generated 1,118 hectares of new service areas and restored 714 hectares.
It befitted a total of 11,584 farmers and generated 6,383 jobs region-wide. These completed irrigation projects include: Establishment Groundwater Pump Irrigation Project (GPIP); Repair of Groundwater Pump Irrigation System (RGPIS); Balikatan Sagip Patubig) (BSPP); Communal Irrigation System (CIS); National Irrigation System (NIS); Climate Change Adaption Works (CCAW); and Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program- Irrigation Component (CARP-IC); among others.
For 2019, the agency has lined up 304 projects with a total allocation worth P1,498,725 billion.
 
Primo Agatep/ABN