Casecnan Dam’s irrigation component 70% complete – NIA

SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija — The P6.7-billion irrigation component of the giant Casecnan multipurpose irrigation and power project, which involves the construction of a 29-kilometer superdiversion canal and the repair and rehabilitation of existing dams and expansion of major canals, is now 70 percent complete, an official of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA)-Casecnan said yesterday.

Engineer Alexander Coloma, NIA-Casecnan assistant project manager, told The STAR that they have completed one of the five project packages, while another package, U1, has just started.

Coloma said the construction of the other structures is going full-blast to meet the completion target on Dec. 31, 2008.

He said the project’s contract package S1, which involves the rehabilitation of the Rizal Dam, was finished three months ahead of schedule.

He said there have no major hitches in the other phases, except that construction slows down when it rains.

"Otherwise, we see no problem completing the various contract packages ahead of the timetable," he said.

For 2007, Coloma said a P1-billion budget has been allocated for the various construction work for the remaining packages.

Other packages covered by the dam’s irrigation component are the following:

• S2 and S3, covering this city and Guimba town, costing P1 billion and P600 million, respectively;

• U1, covering Atate Dam in Palayan City (P400 million); and

• U2, which involves the improvement of the Peñaranda River irrigation system’s diversion dam and rehabilitation of the Pampanga-Bongabon River irrigation system, costing P608 million. Coloma said U2 is now roughly 60 percent complete.

The S1 package was undertaken by a Japanese consortium composed of Toyo, Kobayashi and Ube Construction; S2 by China Geo Engineering Corp.; S3 by Toyo Construction Co. Ltd.; U1 by China International Water and Electric Corp.; and U2 by the China State Construction Engineering Corp.

The Casecnan project’s irrigation component, which started in January 1998, is being implemented by the NIA. It is funded through a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation with a local counterpart fund of P1.7 billion.

The irrigation component intends to irrigate 26,290 hectares of new areas in the northern Nueva Ecija towns of Cuyapo, Guimba, Nampicuan and Talugtog and the Science City of Muñoz; ensure irrigation to 55,100 hectares in the service area of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems, which operates the Pantabangan Dam; and generate 140 megawatts of hydroelectric power to supplement the National Power Corp.’s energy supply to the Luzon grid and augment the power generated by the Pantabangan and Masiway hydropower plants.

The project covers 17 towns and four cities in Nueva Ecija, Arayat and Candaba towns in Pampanga, and San Ildefonso and San Miguel in Bulacan.

Engineer Marcelino Santos, NIA-UPRIIS district manager for NIA District IV, said the project will benefit 10,980 farmers tilling 23,419 hectares in the southern part of Nueva Ecija, covering Gapan City and the towns of San Isidro, Peñaranda, and Cabiao.

For the dry season in March 2007, Coloma said they have programmed 16,500 hectares of agricultural lands in these areas for irrigation.

Once finished, he said the irrigation component will benefit 15,679 farmers in the new areas and 32,390 other farmers in areas serviced by the UPRIIS, with an annual production of 834,000 metric tons of milled rice expected.

The dam’s $675-million build-operate-transfer (BOT) component, which involved the construction of a 26.27-kilometer underground transbasin tunnel that diverts water from the Casecnan and Taang rivers in Nueva Vizcaya to the Pantabangan Dam, was completed in December 2001.

This BOT component, built by the California Energy Casecnan Water and Energy Company Inc., also included the construction of a 150-megawatt hydropowerhouse, a 230-kilovolt switchyard, two diversion weirs, 80 kilometers of access roads, and seven concrete bridges.