ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/04 April) – The Zamboanga City Water District (ZCWD) is eyeing the possibility of putting up an impounding dam to store water for use during the dry season.
With an impounding dam, the ZCWD will no longer need to ration water during summer
Leonardo Rey Vasquez, ZCWD general manager, said.
For nearly a month now, the ZCWD has been implementing a six-hour water rationing due to low water elevation at its source.
Engr. Arnulfo Alfonso, ZCWD technical services department head, said the water level at the diversion dam has reached the critical level of 73.9 meters as of Monday, from th normal water level at 74.20 meters.
Vasquez said they will hire experts to spearhead the study to determine the best place where to build the impounding dam as well as its volume capacity.
Initially, Vasquez recalled, they were eyeing an area at the west coast of this city since it is difficult to place the impounding dam in Pulong Bato area, which is near ZCWD’s diversion dam.
The Pulong Bato, which is overlooking the downtown area, is the highest peak of this city.
Vasquez said the study may start by the last quarter of this year since everything has to be prepared, including bidding and terms of reference.
Vasquez said around P2 billion will be needed to realize the construction of an impounding dam.
He said they can store water in the impounding dam during rainy season to be reserved and used during the dry season.
At present, the ZCWD only maintains a diversion dam at the Pasonanca River leading to the intake and filtration plant of the firm. (MindaNews