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ay, May2 ,2o\9 '

House pushes creation il##*1$Jx;rxi**,*

ofT\fc forwater : 'J:[:'il::HiT'"i"',"##l'ffi'T

;.*tiddtt".plut
"ti'
i :#;il['1itr?;+T#il"';ffi
11utd-inc|]e ffiil;r""r-.i a"*s and other
BrfovrrMenreN.DElecnuttr! rli"riitrategies
{ sjoveemarie :
f::$'^"j#fl:}JffJ.?""'"TiH
of non-
rflTd,T'"T'Jtil"^Til::ni
oavertfuturewatershortage, causes/sources i" ft;t" Manila and nearby areas.
theHouseofRepresentatives ^rr.rtl"git"
revenue water' and exploratiol of According to Velasco' ih" tut"-
has mandated six" govern- newwaterresourcesandtechnology' nila Water r,iiU ,ign a joint-venture
ment agencies and offices tl create It also pro-ds the P.hilielTgo:: agreement with Enrique Razonand
sector to
a techriical. working group (TWG) ernment ind the private S-"r, Lor.rrro Ruiz Water Develop-
that would'formulai" a *"t", ,".,r- work together to achieve a commo'n ment Corp. of Oscar Violago for the
rity master plan. 'goal of sufficient and sustarnaore construction of a new dam, saying
ihir, the lower chamber iatersuppiythroughaholisticand iiira"**itthavea'iiapacityof 500
"fi",
adopted House Resolution 2547 and feasible plan. . . __-1_-r,. million
liters per day (MLD).
zs+s, which seek to create a TWG Meanwhile,HR254Sparttcunny Also part of iong-term solu-
on water shortage mitigation and callsfortheMWSS,the^MWs:,1:g:- tior,r, vil"rco said,-is the con-
formulate a water ,"..rriy master latoryOffice(MWSS-Ro),theT,*Y; X* ,*".,io" of the Chinese-funded
plantosecureandsustaintiresupply the LWUA, the Bureaurct ^::1t: 1|] OOft-tttt D Kaliwa Dam.
ofwaterforhousehold,.o**.r.i"i, , Water Management,!?tYY];rltl t"t Vrlasco said the MWSS is
andindustrialusesinMetroManila NIA' the MwcI' and the
MW now revrewrng the construction of
and other parts of the country. put together a wa$ secu:ity4::j: , ii" r,aoo uf6 f"iU"n/KananDam
House Resolutions 2547 and identify sustainable water sources dueto thehighnumberof squatter
2548, authoredbyformerPresident forthegrowingwatersupplyrequrre- residents in tlhe area.
and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal- ments as soon as posslbte' - r L-_ Velasco said the MWSS is now
Arroyo and Committee on Metro The recent water cnsis *t:11^1 lookirrg ro other possible -new
ManilaDevelopmentChairmanRep. the Metro Manila residents
t1::: ,orrr."r" of water *tti.t include:
Winston Castelo of Quezon City, as an eye-opener that urges tne t SOO-lrttO Rehabilitation of Wawa
-
both aim to avoid the recurrence of lovErnment regulators to be morJ Dam; 800-MLD unutilized water
water shortage in Metro Manila. proactiveinimmediatelyaddressing fromAngat-N oruagaray;3lO-MlD
At present, the resolutions said water service problems, especially Bayabas Dam, 188-MLD Sumag
the National Capital Region (NCR) in the dry season. River Diversion Project.
and Region 3 obtain most of their Themeasuresalsorecognizethat Velasco also disclosed the con-
water fiom the Angat Dam, a hy- watersources,includingrivers,lakes, i structionsoftunnelsandaqueducts
droelectricfacilityinBulacan,which reservoirs, groundwater and rain- from Ipo Dam to Bigte Norzagaray
may no longer sustain the needs of falls, are currentlybeingthreatened and from Bigte to La Mesa,Dam. _.
theregions in the coming years. bythefollowing: (a) pollutioncaused Velasco, meanwhile, said MWSS's
tlp,ZS+Z seeks to direct the Met- by human tampering, (b) intense short-term solutions include Mayni-
ropolitanWaterworksandSewerage consump$onduetourbanization,(c) lad's transfer of 10 MLD of their
Syst.* (MWSS), the NationalWater disasters water allocation to Manila Water
inefficient ude, (d) natural
Resources Board (NWRB), the Lo- that damagb dams and waterways at the La Mesa Portal; energization
cal Water Utilities Administration with debris and contaminants, (e) of 100-MLD Cardona Rizal Water
(LWUA), the Departmmt ofAgricul- man-made disaster such as war and Treatment Plant; cross-bordel Slje
irre(OA),theNationallrrigationAu- terrorisrq, and (f) climate change. valveopening,whichhasatotalofso
lvianilaWa-
tnoriiy (lltA), the Metro MLD treated water from Maynilad'
terCo.Inc. (MWCl),andtheMaynilad reactivationofstandbyl0ldeepwells
WaterServiceslnc. (MWSI) toiorma withapproximatelyl00MlDandde-
TWGtoprepareandimplementwater ployment of mobile watertankers'
shortage mitigation strategies.
n
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