BAGUIO CITY – Typhoon “Egay” has unleashed enough water to replenish this city’s dwindling reserves.
Baguio Water District General Manager Salvador Royeca reported improved water level in two of the city’s biggest sources – the Busol Rainwater Harvesting Facility and the Santo Tomas Rain Basin.
Royeca said the water level at the Santo Tomas Rain Basin went up to 10.70 meters as of 3 p.m. on Friday, July 28, from 8.91 meters on July 26 and 9.74 meters on July 27.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong welcomed the good news and Royeca told the mayor that the current water level would be enough to augment this city’s requirement until next year when the El Nino phenomenon is expected to persist.
“The current water mark is a high enough considering that the basin’s spill level is 12 meters. Egay is also a blessing,” Royeca said.
The water firm and this city had been preparing for the El Nino phenomenon which is projected to linger until next year and result into an acute shortage of water here.
Royeca said they are developing new water resources and augmenting supply. He said they are commissioning the new Zigzag and Gibraltar deep wells, drilling two boreholes in Richwood and South Drives, bidding two more sites in Montinola and Bakakeng, and completing the drilling of the artificial recharging well at Burnham Park.
“We intend to drill 10 wells for our summer operation, including the suspended CAAP site. Our program is to have 10 wells per year as part of our medium-term solution to improve our production capacity. Also, the installation of augmentation lines to supply areas with no viable source is either ongoing or awarded to our contractor. For the information of everyone,” Royeca said.
At present, the BWD has 46,726 active connections supplied by 77 pumping stations, 63 deep wells, four open and spring sources, and two rainwater harvesting facilities.