ILOILO City – There is still sufficient water in all 15 National Irrigation System (NIS) dams across Western Visayas, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said.
Almost all the NIS dams are above the normal operating level and could supply water to 52,631 hectares of service areas, or 37,373 total farmer beneficiaries in the region, according to NIA-6 public relations officer A Danielle P. Pijuan.
“Madamo sang tubig sa aton nga mga dams as of now kag sige-sige ang aton irrigation pakadto sa aton service areas,” Pijuan told Panay News yesterday.
Among the dams with water above normal operating level is the Suague River Irrigation System in Barangay Tolarucan, Mina, Iloilo.
Pijuan said its normal operating level is only two meters above the river bed, but the water level as of Monday morning was 2.46 meters above the river bed.
The Santa Barbara Diversion Dam in Barangay Tungay, Santa Barbara town has a normal operating level of 1.8 meters above the river bed, but the current water level is 1.90 meters above the river bed.
“The same sa Antique nga mga dams, mas sobra sia sa normal. Meaning to say mas damo ang tubig sa aton mga suba nga nagakadto sa aton dams, amo man sa Aklan, Capiz and Negros Occidental,” added Pijuan.
Below are the 15 dams in the region that supply water to communal canals or small irrigation systems around them and their respective total service area and total farmer-beneficiaries.
Iloilo
* Suague River Irrigation System in Barangay Tolarucan, Mina (2,636 hectares, or 1,728 farmers)
* Sta. Barbara Diversion Dam in Barangay Tungay, Santa Barbara (3,438 hectares, or 1,282 farmers)
* Aganan River Irrigation System in Barangay Igtambo, San Miguel (4,863 hectares, or 2,137 farmers)
* Jalaur River Irrigation System Diversion Dam in Barangay Moroboro, Dingle (9,481 hectares, or 3,818 farmers)
* Barotac Viejo River Irrigation System in Barangay Rizal, Barotac Viejo (2,549 hectares, or 1,100 farmers)
* Sibalom Diversion Dam in Leon (1,917 hectares, or 2,312 farmers)
Antique
* Tipuluan Dam in Barangay Cubay, Sibalom (4,310 hectares, or 3,163 farmers)
* Solong Dam in Barangay Solong, Sibalom (780 hectares, or 821 farmers)
* Nasuli Dam in Barangay Nasuli, San Remegio (324 hectares, or 350 farmers)
Aklan
* Aklan River Irrigation System East in Barangay Sigcay, Banga (2,288 hectares, or 3,717 farmers)
* Aklan River Irrigation System West in Barangay Kinalangay, Malinao (1,983 hectares, or 3,437 farmers)
* Panakuyan River Irrigation System in Barangay Agdungayan, Ibajay (1,454 hectares, or 1,561 farmers)
Capiz
* Mambusao River Irrigation System Dam in Barangay Sinondojan, Mambusao (1,423 hectares, or 1,258 farmers)
Negros Occidental
* Bago River Irrigation System in Barangay Damsite, Murcia (12,971 hectares, or 8,014 farmers)
* Pangiplan River Irrigation System Dam in Barangay Cabadiangan, Himamaylan City (1,840 hectares, or 1,098 farmers)
Could the 15 dams sustain through El Niño forecast?
According to Pijuan, since the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) announced that El Niño will last until the early part of 2024, the NIA-6 has not yet projected the water supply of the dams four months from now.
The current water supplies of the 15 dams are sufficient for the wet or first crop this September and October, but the NIA-6 still needs to estimate the dry or second crop in November and December.
“When it comes sa next cropping season, indi pa naton ma-project kay that’s like four months to go pa and indi pa naton mabal-an ang status sang panahon,” said Pijuan.
However, she said that since April and May this year, when PAGASA announced the El Niño phenomenon, the NIA-6 has been preparing and implementing interventions.
The first intervention is the rotational water delivery to 52,631 hectares of service areas.
“Let’s say the volume water capacity [of the dam] is 100 hectares; gina-identify anay ang first 100 hectares nga ipa-irrigate,” explained Pijuan.
After the first 100 hectares of service areas are served and there is still an available supply, the succeeding service areas will be given water supplies.
Pijuan explained they could not simultaneously supply water to all the irrigation canals connected to the 52,631-hectare service areas because rice growth is affected if there is not enough water.
The NIA-6 has a rotational calendar schedule it follows for effective intervention.
Farmlands or service areas at the tail-end of irrigation systems are most affected if there is less supply in dams and water cannot reach the area. Thus, they distribute water pumps to affected farmers.
NIA-6 also partnered with the Department of Agriculture to distribute drought-resistant seedlings.
The agency also distributed solar-powered irrigation pumps to farmland in hilly areas.
Irrigation canals provide water supply to 52,631 hectares of service areas every May 1 until Feb. 27 of the next year. While it is closed from Feb. 28 until April 30 annually to make way for maintenance and clearing operations.
In the duration the irrigation systems are closed, farmers also waive planting aside from some in Negros Occidental who take the risk since they have are other sources of water aside from the irrigation./PN
