MANILA, Philippines — The construction of the China-funded Kaliwa Dam may begin in July or August this year, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Administrator Reynaldo Velasco said Monday.
The Kaliwa Dam, one of MWSS’ long-term solutions to the water shortage that parts of Metro Manila are experiencing, is funded by China’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the Philippines. The dam, which is part of the Duterte administration’s two-phase “New Centennial Water Source (NCWS),” is expected to supply 600 million liters per day (MLD) of water.
“We are just waiting for the engineering design to be completed. Hopefully, by July or August, we should be able to start the project,” Velasco told the House committee on Metro Manila development.
The project was supposed to take four to five years to be completed but Velasco said they are asking the Chinese contractor to shorten it to three years.
The bulk of the work, he added, involves the construction of a 27-kilometer tunnel from the source in the boundary of Infanta and General Nakar, Quezon province, to the treatment plant in Teresa and Antipolo, Rizal.
Velasco said the second phase of the project, the Laiban or Kanan Dam, which is set to provide 1800 MLD of water, remains “under review” as this would affect 4,800 informal settlers in the area.
Aside from the NCWS, the Manila Water Company, Inc. will also enter into a joint venture program with business tycoons Enrique Razon and Oscar Violago to build a new dam that could supply 500 MLD.
READ: New dam projects to supply water to Metro — Manila Water
MWSS also plans to tap the 800 MLD unutilized water from Angat-Norzagaray, 350 MLD from Bayabas Dam, and 188 MLD from the Sumag River Diversion project, according to Velasco.
Velasco further revealed the following long-term solutions: the construction of the tunnel no. 4 from Ipo Dam to Bigte Norzagaray by 2019 (1642 MLD); construction of new tunnel (Tunnel 5) from Ipo Dam to Bigte by 2022 (1642MLD); and additional aqueducts (Aqueduct 7) from Bigte Bulacan to La Mesa Dam (3.3 meters x 16 kilometers) to replace the old and dilapidated aqueducts No. 1 and 2 by 2022.
The MWSS official meanwhile said their short-term solutions include Maynilad’s transfer of water allocation to Manila Water at the La Mesa portal, energization of 100 MLD Cardona Rizal Water Treatment Plant, cross border gate valve opening, reactivation of standby 101 deep wells, and deployment of mobile water tankers. /je