Domogan urges BWD: Make acceptable terms for new water project

BAGUIO CITY – The management of the Baguio Water District must start formulating practical and acceptable terms of reference for implementation of a bulk water project to address worsening water problem in the city due to the effects of climate change and global warming as well as rapid urbanization.

Rep. Mauricio G. Domogan said BWD’s previous bulk water project was overtaken by events, thus, the district must already come out with new terms of reference to attract investors that will help solve the city’s worsening water problem.

According to him, water is becoming a major problem in the city due to the denudation of watersheds and forests as well as the increasing population but it seems BWD is not moving forward in its bid to develop new water sources outside the city to ensure that it could cater to the increasing demand.

Supposedly, Benguet Corp., the winning bidder in the multi-billion bulk water project aimed at supplying the city with 50,0000 cubic meters of water daily, backed out of the project after it was affected by the global financial crisis, thus, it could no longer provide the city with such volume of water at a cheap amount.

Instead of criticizing and hurling baseless allegations against noble impact projects in the city, Domogan cited the local government is mandated to help BWD in looking for other sources of water outside the city but its terms of reference must be acceptable to the host communities in order to ensure its eventual endorsement.
The three term mayor and lawmaker said scarcity of water being experienced by local residents especially in highly elevated areas in the city because of the drying up of water sources due to the onslaught of the El Nino phenomenon will not happen once there will be a consistent bulk water supplier which will ensure the availability of water for the whole year.

While the city government supports any bid to uncover new sources of water for the growing population, Domogan said local officials and residents of neighboring communities must be properly consulted and given importance so that BWD will not be encountering the same problem that it encountered during the previous bulk water supplier project that did not push through.

“The problem of the scarcity of water should not be taken lightly because it is the lifeblood of the city’s economy. Having problems with water will not attract the influx of more investors in the city, thus, the issue should be immediately given utmost attention by BWD and other stakeholders,” he stressed.

Aside from searching for available bulk water sources, Domogan underscored the importance of regreening the denuded mountains of the city since trees will be able to recharge the city’s aquifers and that abundant water supply will be assured for the coming years while pursuing the implementation and completion of new water sources to augment the existing supply from rain basins, wells among others.