MWSS eyes construction of new dam

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has expressed support for proposals to construct a new dam at the boundary of Rizal and Quezon provinces, regarding it as a possible alternative water source for Metro Manila’s water supply.

This came as the MWSS looked for means to ease the metropolis’ dependence on Angat Dam, which was adversely hit by the recent dry spell over Luzon.

Metro Manila is getting 97 percent of its water from the Angat Dam, which is located in Norzagaray, Bulacan. 

MWSS Administrator Lorenzo Jamora said the proposed Laiban Dam is projected to hold enough water to provide for Metro Manila’s water needs if the dam is finished by 2014.

The government has set the start of the construction of the Laiban Dam, which has been compared in size and capacity to Angat, within the year.

“This will constitute the replication of sources of water in Southern Luzon so that we’re not dependent solely on Angat Dam,” Jamora said.

Antonio Aquino, president of Manila Water Co., said the dam would make use of water coming from the southern portion of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.

He noted that only the Bulacan portion of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range is currently being utilized, as the water coming from the southern portion of the mountain range “just goes directly to the Pacific Ocean” and causes floods in Quezon province.

Aquino estimated that once Laiban Dam is operational, it could augment Metro Manila’s water supply by 50 percent initially.

However, Francis Matthew de Guzman, project assistant of the Southern Sierra Madre Wildlife Center of the Environmental Studies Institute of Miriam College, said the construction of the $1-billion dam within the Kaliwa Watershed would affect around 3,500 families in Tanay, Rizal, and General Nakar, Quezon.

He added that the dam will be built near active fault lines, which pose a threat to its stability and could result in destructive flooding should the dam break.   – Katherine Adraneda