Sta. Rosa (Nueva Ecija) Water District

Stepping out of the shadows

Three things are possible when a community sits next to a big, progressive urban center. Either it gets carried into the stream of progress or it gets left behind in its wake. Or it is forced to develop on its own notwithstanding the geographical proximity.

This is the situation of Sta. Rosa, a town located at the southern flank of Nueva Ecija's premier city of Cabanatuan about 120 kilometers north of Manila.

For years, Sta. Rosa had tried to ride upon the tide of progress that has been generated by the continuing urbanization and economic growth of Cabanatuan City but it was met with but limited success.

One probable reason for this was competition---there are other bordering communities north, east and west of Cabanatuan City that shared the same aspiration and ambition. Of course, the provincial government has long been favoring the expansion of urbanization and development from Cabanatuan City towards Palayan City to the north for obvious reason---the latter is Nueva Ecija's capital.

But another probable reason was the lack of basic socio-economic infrastructures and services such as dependable potable water supply system. Indeed, what developer or investor would be interested in pouring capital funds or implement development projects in a town without a water supply system to speak of?

Significantly, the lot of Sta. Rosa has become a lot better since 1995 with the completion of the construction and start of operation of its entirely new water supply system through the financial and technical assistance of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).

The improvement in the delivery of basic water service has also been a factor in Sta. Rosa's enhanced socio-economic competitiveness, enabling both the local government and the water district to start stepping out of the shadows of their more illustrious counterparts in nearby Cabanatuan City.
Improvement in this aspect is such that the Sta. Rosa Water District (SRWD), operator of the water system, has been named as the "Most Outstanding Water District" in the average water district category by LWUA based on its overall performance last year. The award was presented by LWUA to SRWD during the recent Philippine Association of Water Districts (PAWD) national convention held in Bacolod City.
The secret to the water district's continuing success lies in its careful, well-planned operation and development of the system, SRWD general manager Joel Felix H. Bernardo told this writer.\
It is like consciously and conscientiously nurturing then building up from what you have or what have been given you, GM Bernardo said.

GM Bernardo should know what he is talking about.

A graduate of two B.S. courses, Architecture and Civil Engineering both at UP Diliman (and a board passer in both), he used his acquired knowledge and expertise first as a project manager for the family-owned construction company and later as proprietor of his own gasoline station and own construction firm both based in Sta. Rosa.

He is now employing the same entrepreneurial technique in further developing the water district and water system he inherited with the retirement of SRWD's first general manager, Jorge Roque in 1998. And he seems to be working hard to make up for all those years when the water district had lain dormant.

According to GM Bernardo, the local water district was established in l982 yet but it was classified non-operational for more than a dozen years due to the absence of a working municipal level water supply system.

It was only late October in l995 when the water district started operations with the completion and turn-over of its brand-new water system which was constructed through the technical assistance and a P9,668 million loan from LWUA. But even then, as part of the system start-up, the water district distributed water for free to its hundred or so initial connectors up to the end of the same year. Obviously, it was meant to give the people a "taste" of the better things to come with the advent of modern waterworks in Sta. Rosa.

Completed during the term of former GM Roque, the system consisted of a single deepwell source with pumping station, a 200 cum elevated steel reservoir, a 6 -kilometer network of pipelines, a few strategically-located fire hydrants and some 350 service connections.

Two kilometers of pipeline were installed and around 450 service connections were added to the system, bringing the total pipeline length to 8 kilometers and number of connections to 800 by the end of l997, which incidentally was also the end of GM Roque's term.

Building up from these, GM Bernardo upon assuming the GM post of the water district, started to embark on a continuing system improvement and expansion program.

Investing more than P10 million all from the water district's own internal cash generation and savings, GM Bernardo has expanded the system to two deepwell sources with pumping stations fitted with stand by power generations; 27.4 kilometers of pipeline and more than 2,100 service connections covering 2l out of existing 33 barangays.

The water district was also able to acquire by purchase a 500 sq. meter lot at Bgy. La Fuente to serve as site of future WD office and additional well source with pumping station. It is presently paying the Sta. Rosa municipal treasury P11,000 monthly as rental for its office space and the site of the existing elevated water tank.

The water district is earning a net of P150,000 monthly out of its operations with a high 97% collection efficiency and is updated in the remittance of its monthly loan payment of more than P87,000 to LWUA.
It was rated an operational ratio of 76.88% during the LWUA evaluation of water district candidates for the Most Outstanding Water District Award in the average category covering CY 2002.

GM Bernardo summed up the strong points of the water district which has resulted to its continuing success as thus:

• Strict implementation of policy especially regarding disconnection;
• Simple and highly-coordinated set-up
• Economical operation
• All projects after the first assisted by LWUA funded by own income and
  implemented by administration, and
• Continued entrancement of employee morale and productivity high
  continuous manpower development and incentive rewards program.
  

GM Bernardo said the water district's weak point is its present inability to expand to more barangays. But he qualified that most of the 12 barangays cannot be connected to the system due to distance and their topographical locations (most in upland). He, however, said that the SRWD will be planning for an alternative, the development of independent water systems in two to three years to serve these barangays.

Meantime, he said, the water district's main priorities are:

• Saturating the existing service connections
• Developing additional deep well source with pumping station and
• Construction of the water district's own office building.

And winning more outstanding water district awards?

GM Bernardo just smiled.c