SAN MANUEL, Pangasinan, Philippines – The P4.3-billion irrigation facility or the re-regulating pond of the San Roque Dam was inaugurated yesterday.
Presidential Adviser on Food Security Francis Pangilinan, who was guest of honor and speaker during the ceremony, stressed the importance of irrigation.
“Projects worth billions of pesos would be useless if the result would not redound to the increase of farmers’ income,” he said.
The irrigation facility will harness and store water releases from the dam during its peak power generation.
Reynaldo Mencias, project manager of the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Program, said the construction of the reservoir started in February 2011 under a soft-loan package of $89.15 million with the China Export-Import Bank.
He said the structure can store four million cubic meters of water spilled by the hydropower-generating dam, which could irrigate up to 55,000 hectares in Pangasinan.
The towns to benefit from the irrigation facility are San Manuel, Asingan, Sta. Barbara, Binalonan, Urdaneta City, Villasis, Calasiao, Mapandan, Manaoag, Mangaldan, Laoac and Malasiqui.
The targeted service area could even be increased to 70,000 hectares to include some farmlands in San Manuel and Moncada in Tarlac and Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija once the Ambayoan-Dipalo River and Lower Agno River irrigation system packages are completed and made operational, Mencias said.
In a technical study approved by the National Economic Development Authority, Agno River needs P2.65 billion to complete its irrigation package in the next two years.