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About
the Area
LWUA
Area 3 covers the Southern Tagalog Region or
Region IV which is composed of 11 discontinuous
provinces.
The
provinces of Aurora, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna,
Quezon and Rizal occupy the southern central
portion of the island of Luzon. The provinces
of Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, form the
island of Mindoro, which lies at the Luzon Sea,
south of Batangas. The island province of Marinduque
lies at the Sibuyan Sea. The three islands of
the province of Romblon, namely Tablas Island,
Sibuyan Island and Romblon are situated practically
at the center of the Philippine archipelago.
Likewise, the island and numerous islets of
Palawan, which lies amidst Luzon Sea, the South
China Sea and Sulu Sea, is part of the Southern
Tagalog Region. The region encompasses a total
land area of 46,119 square kilometers.
The
CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal,
and Quezon) with its contiguity to Metro Manila
is being groomed for a large scale, multi-sectoral
project complex that is foreseen to play a role
in the development of Region IV. Massive land
conversion has increased land costs to geometric
proportions. This project aims to give the people
jobs and livelihood. Next to Manila, Calabarzon
is the most urbanized geographic unit in Luzon.
The
region has a fair share of minerals, forest
and marine resources as well as suitable land
for agriculture. Outside the metropolitan areas,
the region is still predominantly agricultural
with rice, coconut and sugarcane as the most
important products.
Water
supply development
Operational
water districts.
There
are 66 operational water districts in Region
4 currently serving over 2 million people in
76 towns of the region's 212 cities and municipalities.
The average water district collection efficiency
in Area 3 is 86 percent, while the average non-revenue
water stands at 28.8 per cent.
WD
Organizations. The Southern Tagalog Water
Information Council (SOTWIC) which was formed
jointly by LWUA and the water district general
managers in Region IV during the early 80s was
the first organization in the area. A decade
after, SOTWIC changed in character with the
addition of the board of directors of the water
districts to the roster of its membership and
metamorphosed to become the Southern Tagalog
Association of Water Districts (STAWD) in the
90s. Today it is considered as the umbrella
organization of all the water districts in Region
IV.
There
are also provincial organizations of water districts
in the region namely: CAWAD or Cavite Association
of Water Districts, LAWD or Laguna Association
of Water Districts, BAWAD or Batangas Association
of Water Districts and, RIZWADA or Rizal Association
of Water Districts.
As
in other regions, water districts in the area
have acknowledged leaders or so-called Godfather
Water Districts. These are: Dasmariñas
Water District for Cavite; San Pablo City Water
District for Laguna; Metro Lipa and Batangas
City Water Districts for Batangas; Quezon Metro
Water District for Quezon, and Puerto Princesa
City Water District for Palawan.
Water
Sources.
Water resources potential evaluated for both
surface water and groundwater in Region IV is
high. The area is relatively rich in water resources
in terms of total endowments. However, their
seasonal variations are large and geographic
distribution is biased. There are extensive
areas where extended dry periods are observed
every year. Most river basins in the region
are small with limited impoundment areas and
capacity.
Groundwater
availability is relatively high, but most promising
groundwater reserves are confined largely to
fluvial lowlands along the lakeshore of Laguna
de Bay and limited areas along the coasts.
Another
notable characteristic is the existence of the
much-utilized Laguna de Bay and the largely
unutilized Taal Lake. Lands in Region IV are
extensively covered by volcanic ashes, which
make them vulnerable to erosion.
For
almost all the existing piped systems, groundwater
(shallow well and deepwell) is utilized as the
water source in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna,
Rizal, Batangas, Rizal, Mindoro, Palawan, and
Romblon.
Other
water districts located near Mt. Banahaw in
Quezon and Mt. Makiling in Laguna draw their
water supply from mountain springs.
Recipients
of LWUA Loan Assistance Program in the Area
in 2004: Polilio, P13.468 million; Lopez,
P31.567 million; Trece Martires, P27.669 million;
Laguna, P24.594 million; Alitagtag, P24.109
million; Macaleon, P19.347 million; Guinayangan,
P17.588 million; Agoncillo, P17.425 million;
Taysan, P15.950 million; Gen. L. Aguinaldo,
P15.312 million; Catanauan, P14.974 million;
Indang, P14.678 million; Amadeo, P13.769 million;
Tanza, P13.573 million; Maragondon, P12.722
million; Calamba, P12.148 million; Gumaca, P10.733
million; Silang, P10.594 million; Roxas, P7.260
million; Romblon, P6.397 million; and Taytay,
P2.902 million.
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