MCWD told: Desilt Buhisan dam fast

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has requested the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) to desilt fast the Buhisan dam following a decrease in the water production.

The city council approved on Wednesday, April 24, a resolution sponsored by majority floor leader Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera.

Aside from the request to fast-track the desilting of the dam, Pesquera also requested the MCWD to provide the Sangguniang Panlungsod a copy of the development plan of the same dam to submit updates on the desilting project.

According to Pesquera, the Buhisan dam was built to address “devastating fires” that could again hit the city and the need for a safe water supply during a cholera outbreak.

“The Dam originally has the capacity of 10,000 cubic meters per day but because of siltation, its capacity has reduced to 3,143 cubic meters per day,” reads the resolution.

The resolution quoted the water district’s spokesperson saying, “they continue to face a struggle in providing water supply after its production has reduced by 46,748 cubic meters each day.”

MCWD’s daily output now stands at just 254,252 cubic meters as compared to its normal water production capacity which is at 301,000 cubic meters per day.

“There is a need to desilt the Buhisan Dam in order to restore its original capacity,” Pesquera said.

Councilor Jose Lorenzo Abellanosa also raised a corollary motion requesting the MCWD and the Department of Engineering and Public Works to establish a monitoring team to oversee the implementation of the desilting project and to ensure transparency, accountability and adherence to the environmental regulations and best practices.

Apart from this, he also asked a report within seven days among other data such as the storage capacity of the dam, the degree of the desiltation of the dam and whether or not the desilting is done every dry season for the last 10 years.

In another resolution, Pesquera has also requested the MCWD to furnish the Cebu City Council copies of the Annual Audit Report from 2018 to 2023. She likewise requested the MCWD to furnish the Cebu City Council copies of the Bulk Water Supply Contract and Joint Ventures entered into from 2019 up to the present. All these resolutions were approved by the city council.

Pesquera cited in her resolution a 2019 audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA) which states that the cash and cash equivalents of MCWD was in the amount of P1,299,413,042.

“Whole in recent news, it has been reported that the cash balance of MCWD is now only P100 million,” the resolution reads.

She also mentioned that COA flagged the P117.759 million loss in annual revenue of MCWD “due to its unimproved non-revenue water (NRW) portion” which resulted to an annual loss in revenue by an average of at least P117.759 million for the past three years.

“Thus, there is a need for the Cebu City Council to look into the operation of MCWD,” Pesquera’s resolution also reads.

The Cebu City Government created in 1910 the Osmeña Waterworks Systems (OWS) with the Buhisan Dam as the main water reservoir. In 1974, the Cebu City Government created the MCWD and transferred the properties under the Osmeña Waterworks System (OWS) to MCWD which include the Tisa Filter Plant, the Jagobiao Spring Facility, Ten Wells, the Betania Reservoir and the Bodega in Lahug. /FPL (Noodle King)