THE Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) has assured residents in its concession areas that programs are currently being implemented to eliminate the possibility of a water supply crisis.

Engr. Edwin Reyes, MIWD interim general manager, made the assurance in reaction to media reports attributed to an official of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) identifying Iloilo City as among five cities facing a water supply crisis.

Reyes stressed that "the MIWD is currently undertaking a P207 million water supply improvement and rehabilitation project that will address the problem of leakages resulting to non-revenue water." He added that the water district has completed rehabilitation of seven (7) deep well sources and three (3) new deep wells will be drilled before the end of the year.

For his part, Administrator Lorenzo H. Jamora of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), himself a native of Iloilo City, assured the public that it is not only in Iloilo City and nearby towns that the watershed areas are now being protected and properly managed by the various water districts.

The LWUA chief disclosed that the 612 water districts nationwide were directed to sustain the effort to expand the watershed areas in their localities. Jamora noted that water district-managed and protected watershed areas are not only planted with prime tree species such as narra, lawaan and apitong but also with fruit trees such as mango, rambutan, lanzones, etc. He explained that hectarage surrounding water impounding dams, water catch basins and reservoirs are planted with fruit trees to ensure that farmers and illegal loggers would not cut them.

Meanwhile, Reyes disclosed that the MIWD is also planning to engage in a bulk water supply agreement, either through the funding of the government or a private sector participation in anticipation of the growing water demand requirement of our service area coverage as a consequence of its rapid growth and development.

Jamora, for his part, also assured MIWD concessionaires of a reliable 24-hour water supply not only for Iloilo City but for the towns or areas also covered by the water district. "There's no cause for alarm and worry. We have done our home- work," he pointed out.
c August 27 , 2006