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EN causes minimal drop in water level in NegOr
by R. Nessia
Dumaguete City (29 June 2005) -- The long drought produced by the abnormal weather phenomenon El Niño in the country has caused the water level in Negros Oriental to drop, but the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) here describes the decrease as "very minimal."

Engr. Eduardo Eso of the local NIA office in an interview said the decrease in the water level is not alarming compared to previous El Niño episodes.

He cited the various irrigation projects in the province as having helped ease the impact of El Niño on farmers.

The government has been harvesting rainwater through small water impounding projects (SWIPs) for irrigation to lessen the negative impact of the long heat wave on farmers nationwide.

Eso however said their office here is using small reservoir irrigation projects (SRIPs) instead of SWIPs because they are deriving water from the rivers in the province.

The two existing SRIPs in the province are in Calango, Zamboanguita covering 650 hectares and in Nasiguit, Zamboanguita covering 1,000 hectares. "The dam in Nasiguit, Zamboanguita is already completed and the distribution is now ongoing," says Eso.

According to the NIA engineer, there are now a total of 10,000 hectares of irrigated areas in the province, stretching from Basay to Canlaon City.

All towns and cities have irrigation projects already except for Dauin where the construction of the SRIP is ongoing under the ADB program.

The project is aimed to end by 2007 and will cover 1,000 hectares of vegetable, corn and rice fields in the irrigable areas of some eight barangays in Dauin.

The dam site is constructed in Magsaysay with Lipayo River as the water source. (PIA)

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