The Puerto Princesa City Water District (PPCWD) conducted a river clean up and rechanneling in Irawan River on Saturday as part of its effort to improve the river system’s water flow rate.
Ronnie Fernandez, PPCWD acting assistant general manager for administration and finance, said the activity was necessary because of the water crisis the city is currently experiencing.
“Itong river rechanneling at clean up ay ginagawa naman talaga ito taon-taun kapag may ganito, depende sa condition. Ngayon kasi medyo malala talaga ang panahon, wala talagang tag-ulan simula pa actually noong January, itong ginagawa natin ay parang gumagawa tayo ng kanal para ‘yong mga tubig pa sa taas ay bumaba pa rito,” he said.
The river clean up drive was participated in by 300 employees of the PPCWD with representatives and volunteers from its partner agencies, government offices, and uniformed personnel.
The area where it was implemented was from the upstream of Campo Uno down to the filtration gallery.
Fernandez said the river rechanneling would help the flow of water by removing what blocks the waterway.
“Kasi alam naman natin ang tubig ay nagpapailalim na iyan, hindi na dumadaloy nang tuloy-tuloy gawa ng marami ng sagabal along the way. Ito ay para makababa lang dito,” he pointed out.
He said the river rechanneling in the infiltration gallery are can contribute at least 50 cubic meters of water, which is enough to supply a barangay.
“May maaambag ito, kahit papaano siguro ay more or less ay makaambag ito ng 50 cubic meters, malaking bagay na yon… sapat sa isang barangay pero at least, alam mo naman, talagang kulang na kulang na, so ang natitira dyan, ‘yon na lang ang aming kukunin at pagtitiyagaan,” he said.
Campo Uno can still supply a flowrate of 150 cubic meters per hour of water, he said.
The last river channeling was in 2016 when a water crisis was also declared.
