The Bacolod City government is constructing a Matab-ang River water supply and filtration facility targeted to draw 20 MLD (million liters per day) of water to be delivered to Baciwa-PrimeWater to address its current water shortage, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Monday, March 11.
The city government’s construction of the facility estimated to cost about P50 million will fast track the delivery of the 20MLD of water to the BACIWA reservoir through a 1.8 kilometers pipeline.
Benitez said Bacolod will coordinate with Talisay City in the implementation of the project.
They will try to finish the design and technical aspect by this week so they can start mobilizing the project, Benitez said.
PrimeWater will pay Bacolod for the water at the rate set by other bulk water suppliers and it will be assured that there will be no rate increase, Benitez said.
“This will be hitting two birds with one stone – you solve the problem of water shortage and at the same time the city establishes an economic enterprise,” Caesar Distrito, the mayor’s spokesman, said.
The Matab-ag River project will be funded by the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management fund.
Also underway is the laying of pipelines for the tapping of 5 to 10 MLD of water from the Bocal Bocal Springs in Barangay Alangilan to connect to the nearest injection point of BACIWA-PrimeWater, Benitez said.
The Bocal Bocal project is being undertaken by a private group in coordination with PrimeWater at no cost to the city government, Benitez said.
The private group is supposed to have an agreement with PrimeWater signed within the week, he said.
“We hope to have that finished within a very short time,” Benitez said.
He said the water from the Matab-ang River and Bocal Bocal will be the urgent solutions to Bacolod’s water shortage that has been exacerbated by a drop in existing supply by about 15 percent because of the El Niño phenomenon.
The El Niño phenomenon will definitely cause a further drop in water supply that is why he is fast tracking the Matab-ang and Bocal Bocal projects, Benitez said.
Benitez has issued Executive Order 014, Series of 2024 for the creation of a coordinating action team mainly to expedite the implementation of vital infrastructure to improve water supply for Bacolodnons.
Benitez said they would have to determine if a declaration of a state of emergency would be necessary because of the water shortage problem.
The mayor also said he is still open to the entry of another water concessionaire into Bacolod.
Several groups have expressed interest and they are just waiting for their letters of intent, the mayor said.*