Metro Iloilo starts rationing water as El Niño intensifies

ILOILO CITY—The company that supplies water here and its neighboring towns in Iloilo province has started rotating its supply after levels from its sources have been consistently decreasing and had gone to under-normal levels.

The Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW) has announced that the rotational supply scheme involves three- to five-hour time frames of service interruptions throughout their different service areas as follows: Arevalo So-oc, Mandurriao West, Mandurriao East, Jaro Diversion, Pavia East and Santa Barbara (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.); Arevalo, City Proper, Mandurriao South and Molo (1 p.m. to 6 p.m.); and La Paz, Lapuz and Jaro South (9 p.m. to 2 a.m.). The water rationing distribution started at 6 p.m. last Wednesday, affecting service across Iloilo City and portions of the neighboring towns of Pavia and Santa Barbara.

In its advisory, the MPIW cited the need to “help arrest the rapid decline of the water level at Maasin Dam, due to limited inflows from rainfall.”

The company said it would instead deploy water tankers to critical areas to augment supply.Below normalAs of March 20, the Maasin Dam, one of MPIW’S sources, had a water level of 93.86 meters, close to the critical level of 93.60 m and below the normal operating level of 94.85 m, the company said. The total bulk water supply as of that same time and date was at 67.74 million liters per day (MLD), which is also close to the 65 MLD critical level and below the normal level of 71 MLD, the MPIW said.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, in an interview, said the MPIW and FLO Water Resources, one of its bulk water suppliers, have agreed to produce an additional 10 MLD, which would be delivered through supply lines of the Villar-owned PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, in an El Niño Advisory No. 9 on March 6, had indicated that the city and province of Iloilo are under a “dry spell” condition.