Public advised to brace for water shortage

CEBU, Philippines — The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) the other day warned Cebuanos of an impending water shortage during the first quarter of next year, as the dry winner phenomenon El Niño is expected to last until May 2024.

At present, water supply in the city is already “below normal”.

“Buwan sa December, below normal na ang atong tubig. Aduna na tay 60 percent nga deficit sa atong nadawat nga tubig,” said Engr. Oscar Tabada, retired weather specialist and CCDRRMO consultant, via the city’s online news platform Sugbuanon channel.

Tabada said the El Niño made this month already a dry month when it should not be, so that water shortage should already be expected until May next year.

“Ang December, dry months na na nato hangtud na sa Abril ngari sa Mayo (2024). Pagka-Enero, below normal gihapon hangtud na na sa Mayo. So, delikado gyud nga aduna na tay kakuwang sa atong tubig para sa panglaba ingon man sa atong mainom,” he said.

Tabada is the former regional director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Central Visayas.

He said that the ongoing El Niño could be a “strong” one after international weather agencies recorded a sea surface temperature of +1.9 degrees Celsius in the Pacific Ocean last November.

“Only four El Niños were recorded since 1950 that were considered as “strong and significant,” Tabada warned.

The first “strong” El Niño, he said, was in 1982 to 1983, when the recorded sea surface temperature (SST) wwas +2.1 degrees Celsius; followed by that in 1997 to 1998, which recorded an SST of +2.4 degrees Celsius; and then in 2015 to 2016, with an SST of +2.6 degrees Celsius.

CCDRRMO chief Harold Alcontin recalled that Mayor Michael Rama placed the city under a state of calamity during the 2015 to 2016 El Niño, which not only caused water shortages in the city but fires also.

With an impending water shortage already expected, Alcontin said the city already prepared for it since March this year, when the City Council approved a resolution for the city to be placed under a “state of preparedness”.

At least P400 million is also already earmarked as in quick response fund for worst case situations.

CCDRRMO has also activated its “response cluster”, which includes the City Health Department, City Agriculture Department, City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District, the City Department of Engineering and Public Works, and the City Local School Board to lend assistance in preparing for El Niño’s possible effects to the Cebuanos.

The city also made an inventory of all deep wells and made repairs on those that are not functioning, while additional water tankers and even generator sets to help aid barangays were also purchased. —  (FREEMAN)