Water supply rotated in Metro Cebu, as dam level drops

CEBU CITY — The water level in two major dams that supply water in Metro Cebu has started to drop, forcing a water district here to impose rotating water interruption.

Water production at the Buhisan Dam dropped from 5,000 cubic meters per day to 1,500 cu m per day as of March 13 due to the dry spell, said Charmaine Rodriquez-Kara, Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) spokesperson.

The same thing happened in Jaclupan Dam where water production went down from 33,000 cu m per day to less than 27,000 cu m.

Kara said they had no choice but to impose rotating water interruption in their service areas. This meant that some areas would not have water at a certain time of the day.

The MCWD supplies water to 183,000 service connections in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, and Lapu-Lapu and the towns of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Cordova.

As of March 14, water interruption was experienced in elevated areas, mostly those that received water from the Buhisan Dam.

These included portions of Barangay Banawa and Horseshoe Drive in Barangay Guadalupe; Barangays Capitol Site, Kamputhaw, Sambag 1 and Sambag 2, as well as on F Ramos Street in Barangay Cogon, B Rodriguez Street; Juana Osmeña Street, the pier area, North Reclamation Area, MJ Cuenco Avenue and, M. Velez Street.

Also affected by the rotating water supply were downtown Cebu City and elevated areas in Talisay City which get their water from Jaclupan Dam.

No water rationing was implemented in Mandaue City and other northern areas covered by MCWD but several residents had complained about low or no water supply at certain hours of the day.

Kara said that while the two dams had not been producing water at full capacity, the MCWD had to rely on groundwater supply which produced 74,000 cu m per day out of 238,000 cu m of their total production.

Cebu City Agriculturist Apple Tribunalo said 70 percent of the water sources in the mountain barangays of Cebu City have depleted.

The residents and the farmers in upland villages had to go down to the lowlands to get water.