Buhisan Dam desilting set today

CEBU, Philippines -  Desilting of the Buhisan Dam will finally begin today after being delayed for two months.

"We will start the desilting activity by Wednesday and we expect to finish it by June," said Ernesto Delco, MCWD assistant manager for operations.

Fifty personnel will do the job manually and are expected to remove 10,000 cubic meters of mud in two months. The plan was delayed because water at the 300,000 cubic meter capacity dam was high from February to March.

Desilting is the removal of mud from the dam's basin. The last time a massive desilting was done was 10 years ago. Delco said it is important to remove the mud to maintain the dam's water capacity.

The 102-year-old Buhisan Dam is supposed to produce 10,000 cubic meters of water daily but has been producing only about 2,000 to 3,000 cubic meters a day.

Delco assured consumers there will no scarcity of water during the desilting process as MCWD has enough water reserves scattered within its franchise area.

"We assured nga di ra ma-affected ang atong water supply. Pero in case og ma-affected man gani, we have enough water reserves," Delco said.

MCWD produces about 195,000 cubic meters of water daily to its 160,000 customers.

The Buhisan Dam, formerly named as Osmeña Waterworks, is part of the Central Cebu Protected Landscape. It was built in 1911-1912 and is maintained by MCWD.

The dam was built to address the devastating fires that hit Cebu City like the one in 1906 that destroyed millions of worth of properties and to address the need for safe water after a cholera outbreak in the city in 1909 that killed at least 500 people.  (FREEMAN)