Contingency steps set amid water crisis

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has set contingency measures amid the looming water shortage, as Angat Dam in Bulacan province—the main source of water in Metro Manila—hits its near critical level of 160 meters with no forecast of heavy rainfall in the next few days.

Chief among these measures is allowing city governments hardest hit by the water crisis to reopen existing deep wells, said Michael Salalima, spokesperson for the Metro Manila Development Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC).

The use of dry wells was earlier banned to protect groundwater from overextraction.  But given the impending shortage, city governments have been temporarily allowed to use them as long as they secure a permit from the National Water Resources Board, Salalima added.

Water concessionaires Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Co. Inc. have also been directed to start releasing information materials about the schedule of water interruptions and to make them as accurate as possible, the MMDRRMC official said.

To make water distributed by fire trucks safe to drink, the MMDA will deploy its mobile water purifiers for use by the public.

Meanwhile, city governments have been asked to identify possible water sources in their area and to make fire trucks available to deliver water in communities hardest hit by the shortage.

The agency said it would also be doing test pit restorations along the Commonwealth-Old Balara area to stabilize water supply in the eastern zone of Manila, from Friday to Tuesday.

Such measures were meant to “prolong Metro Manila’s water supply until July,” or until heavy rains were expected to replenish the depleted dam.

Maynilad, which services the eastern zone of Manila, has projected that some 760,000 households would have less than 12 hours of water supply once the water allocation reaches 40 cubic meters per second.

Both Manila Water and Maynilad project that the water supply could still make it until August even without heavy rainfall.

The agency’s focus, however, is to encourage the public to use water responsibly—“not conserve, because this would lead to hoarding water and making [the shortage] worse for others. But they must learn to use their water responsibly,” Salalima said.