IN a bid to address the city’s dwindling water supply, Baguio has acquired some P90 million worth of funds to put up a rainwater harvesting facility in Camp 8 along Kennon Road.
According to Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the facility is intended to serve as a buffer as the city faces looming water shortages, with the city’s major water source, the Mt. Sto. Tomas water basin, running on low supply.
Once completed, the water harvesting facility is also expected to function as water storage to alleviate the city’s over-reliance on its existing water sources, as well as to aid in the conservation of its water table that is being depleted by illegal deep wells in the city.
The Baguio Water District (BWD) recently issued warnings over the looming water shortage in the city, encouraging residents to conserve water in light of dwindling supply.
According to the BWD, the city’s water supply in the Sto. Tomas basin is 3.25 meters shy of its average water level of 5 meters.
The BWD also reported that some auxiliary water storage facilities in barangay Gibraltar have already run dry, a first since its opening, ahead of the summer.
Magalong meanwhile also sought for the immediate putting up of the new rainwater harvesting facility, as well as the immediate repair of the Busol watershed rainwater harvesting facility.
The Busol facility was previously damaged and left in an unusable state by Typhoon Ompong in 2018.
