Bohol irrigation dams are drying up

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines – The National Irrigation Administration has proposed cloud-seeding activity to save rice lands from further destruction due to lack of water from irrigation dams.t

NIA officials here have noted that while big dams in Luzon are overflowing due to storms and monsoon rains, irrigation dams in Bohol are drying up due to prolonged hot and dry weather.

NIA-7 engineering division head Olimpio Galagala told The Freeman that the agency has planned to launch cloud-seeding for the needed rain, especially in Malinao Dam.

The water level of Malinao Dam is now becoming “critical” since it is already below the normal level of 152 meters. The latest water level is about 148 meters, and when it goes down further to the level of 146 meters, the dam would be in a critical situation, Galagala said.

Some parts of waterbeds of Malinao Dam located in hinterland Pilar town, which is supposed to serve almost 5,000 hectares and those in nearby towns, were already exposed, creating island-like grounds on the dam.

The scenario in Bayongan Dam in San Miguel town and Capayas Dam in Ubay town, however, are still manageable, said Galagala, adding that these two big dams (Bayongan and Capayas) serve as catchment for rain because, unlike Malinao Dam, there is no major river as their main source.

The hot and dry weather have taken its toll on rice seedlings already planted in some rain-fed paddies, and now bear cracks in some parts of Sierra-Bullones town due to absence of rain over the past few weeks.

NIA-7 regional director Diosdado Rosales, for his part, has urged the provincial government for help in the proposed cloud-seeding to save the affected rice farms.

Rosales said that out of the 3,500 hectares that NIA has targeted to serve, only 3,100 hectares of rice lands have been supplied by Malinao Dam. - THE FREEMAN