NIA signs P2.4 billion deal to build new Bayabas Rockfill Dam in Bulacan

National Irrigation Administration (NIA) signs an agreement with a contractor to build Bayabas Rockfill Dam in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan.. (Photo from NIA Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has signed a P2.4 billion agreement with a contractor to build the Bayabas Rockfill Dam in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan.

The contract was signed on November 6 at the NIA Central Office in Quezon City.

It was presided over by NIA Acting Administrator Eduardo Eddie Guillen and Ferdstar Builders Contractors and China International Water and Electric Corporation representative Ferdinand Beltran.

According to NIA, the accord is a “revolutionary step” for agriculture in Central Luzon.

The construction of the new dam is expected to benefit about 20,000 farmers tending to more than 27,000 hectares of land, spanning 17 municipalities in Bulacan and four municipalities in Pampanga.

“The project will help to address flooding, bulk water requirements, aquaculture development, and the implementation of a solar power pump irrigation project,” said NIA in a statement.

NIA also said the dam could boost tourism and the region’s socioeconomic development.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2025.

It will include a reservoir with a maximum water-impounding volume of 53 million cubic meters.

A spillway will also be built, and it will discharge a probable maximum flood rate of 2,345 cubic meters per second.

The contractor must also dig a tunnel to divert river and flood waters.