Drainage master plan seen to solve Metro Cebu flooding

An integrated drainage master plan should immediately be undertaken to resolve Metro Cebu’s worsening flood problem, a Cebu City-based urban planning organization said yesterday.

“It should go beyond expansion of culverts or dredging. It should consider the topographic divide to the receiving end (of water flow),” said Architect Socorro Atega, executive director of Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW).

Atega made the statement amid a fund-raising campaign by residents of barangays Banilad, Cabancalan and Talamban in Cebu City to finance a study on technical solutions for their flooding problems.

The Banilad, Cabancalan, Talamban Communities Drainage Committee vowed to raise funds for the technical study which they said would pave the way for infrastructure projects promised by Cebu City Hall.

Atega said the drainage plan in Cebu should be prioritized due to the rising water volume in recent years.

She cited the heavy flooding in Talisay City which she said is caused by the diversion of a waterway which originally directs to a sinkhole near the Sto. Niño Village.

Atega said the runoff water from the uplands are diverted to Mahiga Creek in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue due to the land design of the drainage system on roads.

“The drainage system in the road is diverting the natural water flow,” Atega said.

She added that the flooding could have been avoided if a drainage master plan was followed before the road construction.

“Our concern is how the runoff can flow back to the sinkhole and undergo treatment,” Atega said.

She said Metro Cebu local governments should follow ecology laws like the Water Code that prescribes the proper treatment of wastewater.

Atega said proper easement-zones of establishments and illegal settlers should  also be observed.

“The easement encroachments constrict the water flow,” Atega said.

She said the water runoff in Talamban and Banilad which exits in barangay Cabancalan in Mandaue City would also contaminate the water source due to its exposure on untreated wastewater in the septic tank and household waste.

Atega said communities also need to learn that the quality of land use and use of water affects the volume and quality of the water source. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter