Proposed dams in the Kaliwa River watershed

Last updated

Several bulk water supply projects on the upper portion of the Kaliwa River Watershed have been proposed by the Philippine Government since the 1970s, [1] with the intent of relieving Metro Manila of its overdependence on the water supplied by Angat Dam. [2] [3] Most of these have focused on a particular site in Barangay Laiban in Tanay, Rizal, on the upper portion of the Kaliwa River Watershed to which the Laiban Dam belongs, and the projects have thus often been referred to as Laiban dam or Kaliwa dam, although multiple projects have been referred to using either name. [1]

Contents

Due to controversies regarding the project's environmental impact [4] and its potential effect on local communities, [5] notably including a community of Remontado Dumagat people who consider the area part of their ancestral lands, [6] these projects have been controversial and have thus been alternatingly approved, deferred, cancelled, and reapproved by the Philippine Government at different times since the late 1970s. [3]

Proposed dam sites

Dams have been proposed on two separate locations within the Kaliwa River watershed: one upstream in Tanay, Rizal, which is sometimes called the "Laiban Dam", and another Downstream, in Quezon Province. [7] Both have been referred to as the Kaliwa Dam, but since 2012, the Quezon site is the one distinguished as "Kaliwa Dam" when the two sites are both being discussed. [8]

The Kaliwa Watershed

The Kaliwa Watershed forms part of the Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor (SMBC), and has been identified by the Southern Sierra Madre Wildlife Center of the Environmental Studies Institute of Miriam College as one of the SMBC's 14 priority biodiversity conservation sites. [4] It is described as "an important wildlife habitat that contains dipterocarp trees, a wide array of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, some of which are threatened and endemic species."

In 1999 the Kaliwa Watershed, evaluated at the time as "degraded due to anthropogenic pressures", was classified as a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System. [4]

The terrain is generally mountainous, surrounded by slopes > 50%, consisting partly of forested hills and partly of cultivated land, with some slash and burn cultivation (kaingin) areas present. Its elevation is from 220 masl (meters above sea level) to 1,530 masl. [5] A number of small creeks run through the lower slopes, all eventually connecting to the main river. [4]

The Laiban sub-watershed site in Tanay, Rizal

The Laiban site where the project is supposed to be built is a Barangay of municipality of Tanay in the province of Rizal, east of Metro Manila. It contains he 180 ha Laiban sub-watershed, a microbasin of the bigger Kaliwa Watershed, nestled in the southeastern portion of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. [4]

Barangays on the site also serve as home to the Indigenous Remontado Dumagats. [4]

Downstream site in Quezon Province

The other proposed site for the dam and reservoir is further east and downstream on the east-flowing Kaliwa river, located in the Barangays of Pagsanjan in the town of General Nakar and Magsaysay in the town of Infanta. Proposals for the construction of this downstream dam still involves the placement of conveyance tunnels and reservoir areas in the upstream Tanay, Rizal site. [8]

Previously discontinued proposals

Manila Water Supply III project during the Marcos administration

The history of projects on the Kaliwa River watershed began with the conception of the Manila Water Supply III project in November 1979 during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos. However, instructed the MWSS to look for alternative sites. The MWSS identified the Kaliwa River basin to be the most viable alternative, and began the first World Bank feasibility study on the damming of the Kaliwa river in 1979. [3]

During that time, however, the Philippine economy had gone into rapid decline because Marcos' debt driven deficit spending made the Philippines vulnerable when the United States increased its interest rates in the third quarter of 1981. [9] [10] [11] The ensuing collapse of the Philippine economy, worsened by the political pressure after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, led to slow development of the Laiban dam project until Marcos was forced out of office and into exile by the 1986 People Power Revolution. [12]

By 1989, the succeeding administration of Corazon Aquino reviewed the project and determined that costs had ballooned so high that the project had to be shelved. [13]

Proposals during the Ramos and Arroyo administrations

After the administration of President Fidel Ramos took over in 1992, it continued conducting studies for the development of a Kaliwa dam, but these remained just proposals as the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System was privatized, and concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad took over the servicing of water in the National Capital Region. [7]

In 2007, the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was able to get funding for Laiban Dam approved. However, the ZTE broadband scandal forced the project to be shelved. [7]

2009 San Miguel Corporation proposal

In 2009, San Miguel Corporation submitted an unsolicited proposal for the building of a dam in Laiban, but public opinion at the thought of higher water rates led to the project once again being shelved in 2010. [7]

2009 Kaliwa Intake Weir proposal

Also in 2009, Osaka-based Japanese company Global Utility Development Corporation submitted an unsolicited proposal for what was called the Kaliwa Intake Weir Project, which would have seen the creation of a 7-meter, 550 MLD Weir at the Kaliwa site, instead of a dam. [14] At the instructions of President Aquino, this proposal was explored again in 2017, after the approval of the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project by NEDA

2012 Kaliwa Low Dam proposal

The New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project was a water project proposed by the Philippine Government in 2012, whose main component was the construction of the Kaliwa Low Dam in Tanay, Rizal, as well as a water supply tunnel, and the attendant infrastructure for these structures. [15] The proposed Kaliwa Low Dam design had a 600 million-liters-a-day (MLD) capacity, and the water supply tunnel has a 2,400-MLD capacity. Had it been built, the Kaliwa Low Dam was expected to ease the demand on the Angat Dam, Manila's sole water storage facility. [16]

In 2015, two consortia were pre-qualified to bid for the undertaking of the Kaliwa Dam project [17] — the SMC-K Water Consortium, which is a partnership between San Miguel Holdings Corp. and Korea Water Resources Corp.; and the Abeima-Datem Consortium, which is a partnership between Albeinsa Infraestructura Medio Ambiento S.A and Datem Inc. [17]

When the project had not moved forward by the time Aquino administration ended, the succeeding Duterte administration decided not to pursue the Kaliwa Low Dam plan. The administration pursued a bigger dam instead, with funds to be obtained through an official development assistance from China.

2012 Laiban Low Dam proposal (NCWSP Phase 2)

A second dam further upstream, named Laiban dam, was also proposed under the 2012 version of the NCWS-Kaliwa Dam Project, as part of a larger, integrated system. [18] The proposed system was intended to be built in stages, with the approval of Laiban Dam subject to the success of the Kaliwa Low Dam. As a result, only stage one, involving Kaliwa Low Dam its attendant the water supply tunnel, were actually approved for construction during the administration of Benigno Aquino III. [2] The dam would not be included in the new NCWS plan under the succeeding administration. [19]

Ongoing MWSS-CEEC dam project

A new proposal under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, [2] would replace the 2012 proposal with a full-sized dam, which would be negotiated using bilateral agreements. [19] However, the project would continue to use the name "New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project." [19] [2]

Various leftist, Indigenous peoples, and environmental groups have voiced concerns regarding the project, [20] [21] with some alleging that the government bypassed various social and environmental regulations to complete the dam within the current administration. [19] [22] Proponents of the dam state that the project would bring various security and tourism benefits, while alleviating the water shortage in Metro Manila. [23]

In a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Dumagat-Remontado communities said that 10,000 people are "adversely affected" by the project. [24] Dumagat-Remontado groups said that the project violates their ancestral domain rights and puts natural resources and biodiversity at risk. Deforestation caused by the project will also reduce the Sierra Madre Mountain Range's ability to mitigate climate change, they said. [24]

The dam was originally proposed to be built at the Laiban Dam site in Tanay, Rizal, but was later disapproved because a dam in Tanay would submerge a larger area. The site downstream in Quezon Province was approved instead, with the areas in Tanay and Teresa becoming sites for the upstream reservoir and conveyance tunnels instead. [8]

Construction

The tunnel boring machines for the dam were revealed on June 2, 2021. [25] The project had its groundbreaking on June 29, 2021. [23] Excavation works for the dam is scheduled to begin in December 2021, to be done by a joint venture of MWSS and China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC). [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Umiray River is a river that separates the Aurora and Quezon provinces. It is bounded by the towns of Dingalan in Aurora and General Nakar in Quezon, it is ironically bounded by 2 barangays of the same name of each town, also Umiray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanay, Rizal</span> Municipality in Rizal, Philippines

Tanay, officially the Municipality of Tanay, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 139,420 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doña Remedios Trinidad</span> Municipality in Bulacan, Philippines

Doña Remedios Trinidad, officially the Municipality of Doña Remedios Trinidad, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 28,656 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norzagaray</span> Municipality in Bulacan, Philippines

Norzagaray, officially the Municipality of Norzagaray, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 136,064 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manila Water</span>

Manila Water Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to provide water and used water (wastewater) services to over six million people in the East Zone of Metro Manila. It is a subsidiary of the country's oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Mesa Dam and Reservoir</span> Dam in Quezon City, Philippines

The La Mesa Dam and Reservoir is an earth dam in Quezon City, Philippines. Its reservoir can hold up to 50.5 million cubic meters, occupying an area of 27 square kilometers (10 sq mi). It is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of the water supply of Metro Manila.

Water privatization in Metro Manila began when the then President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, instructed the government in 1994 to solve what he called the water crisis in Manila by engaging with the private sector. In 1997, two concession contracts for the Eastern and Western halves of Metro Manila were awarded after an open competition. The concessions represent the largest population served by private operators in the developing world. Both winning companies, Maynilad Water Services in West Manila and especially Manila Water in East Manila, submitted bids with extremely low water tariffs. The tariffs proved to be too low to finance the investments needed to improve performance, especially after the East Asian financial crisis and the devaluation of the Philippine Peso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angat Dam</span> Dam in Bulacan, Philippines

Angat Dam is a concrete water reservoir embankment hydroelectric dam that supplies Metro Manila and nearby provinces with water. It was a part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system. The reservoir supplies about 90 percent of raw water requirements for Metro Manila through the facilities of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and it irrigates about 28,000 hectares of farmland in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.

The Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike is a proposed expressway in the Philippines that will start from the coastal area of Laguna de Bay from Taguig in Metro Manila to Calamba and Los Baños in Laguna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wawa Dam</span> Dam in Rodriguez, Rizal

Wawa Dam is a gravity dam constructed over the Marikina River in the municipality of Rodriguez in Rizal province, Philippines. The slightly arched dam is situated in the 360-metre (1,180 ft) high Montalban Gorge or Wawa Gorge, a water gap in the Sierra Madre Mountains, east of Manila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape</span>

The Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape is a protected area in the Province of Rizal in the Philippines, which forms the upper area of the drainage basin of the Marikina River.

The Kaliwa Low Dam, proposed by the Philippine Government in 2012, was one of several bulk water supply projects on the upper portion of the Kaliwa River Watershed that have been proposed but ultimately shelved by the Philippine Government since the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Mesa Watershed Reservation</span> Protected area in Metro Manila, Philippines

The La Mesa Watershed Reservation is a protected area that preserves the only major watershed in Metro Manila, Philippines. Also known as the Novaliches Watershed, it contains the last remaining rainforest of its size in Metro Manila surrounding the La Mesa Dam and Reservoir, the primary source of potable drinking water for 12 million residents in the Manila metropolitan area. The area is under the joint administration, supervision and control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. It was established in 2007 through Proclamation No. 1336 issued by President Gloria Arroyo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sierra Madre (Philippines)</span> Mountain range in the Philippines

The Sierra Madre is the longest mountain range in the Philippines. Spanning over 540 kilometers (340 mi), it runs from the province of Cagayan down to the province of Quezon, forming a north–south direction on the eastern portion of Luzon, the largest island of the archipelago. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, Cagayan Valley to the northwest, Central Luzon to the midwest, and Calabarzon to the southwest. Some communities east of the mountain range, along the coast, are less developed and so remote that they could only be accessed by taking a plane or a boat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angat Watershed Forest Reserve</span>

The Angat Watershed Forest Reserve is a conservation area that protects the drainage basin in the southern Sierra Madre range north of Metro Manila in the Philippines where surface water empties into the Angat River and its distributaries. It is spread over an area of 62,309 hectares in the eastern portion of Bulacan and northern Rizal province at an altitude of between 490 and 1,206 metres. The conservation area also extends to the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Quezon and is centered on an artificial lake created by the Angat Dam which, together with the Ipo Dam located 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) downstream, supply 97% of the water requirement of Metro Manila via an aqueduct system to the La Mesa Dam and Reservoir and the Balara Filtration Plant in Quezon City. The Angat Dam and Reservoir is also a major source of hydroelectricity for Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, contributing some 200 megawatts to the Luzon grid. The watershed is a popular birdwatching site and is a biodiversity hotspot containing most of the remaining closed-canopy forests in Central Luzon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantabangan–Carranglan Watershed Forest Reserve</span> Nature reserve in the Philippines

The Pantabangan–Carranglan Watershed Forest Reserve is a conservation area located in the upper reaches of the Pampanga River in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, and borders the Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains in Aurora and Nueva Vizcaya. It encompasses 84,500 hectares of the drainage basin surrounding the Pantabangan Lake, an impoundment of the Pampanga River by the Pantabangan Dam. The multi-purpose dam is situated at the confluence of Pampanga River's two headwaters, namely the Pantabangan and Carranglan Rivers in the municipality of Pantabangan. It stretches above the dam site for 21 kilometres (13 mi) to where Carranglan River originates in the Caraballo on the north, and for 18 kilometres (11 mi) to where Pantabangan River originates in the Sierra Madre on the east. It is considered a critical watershed for the agricultural economy and hydroelectric power generation in the region of Central Luzon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamitinan Protected Landscape</span> Protected area in Philippines

The Pamitinan Protected Landscape is a Philippine protected area of approximately 608 hectares in the Sierra Madre mountain range, just 34 kilometres (21 mi) northeast of Manila. It contains and protects the Montalban Gorge formed by the Marikina River that separates Mount Pamitinan and Mount Binacayan in the municipality of Rodriguez in Rizal. Established in 1996 through Proclamation No. 901 issued by President Fidel Ramos, the park is originally a component of the Mariquina Reserve founded in 1904 to protect the watershed of the Marikina River that supplied water to the city of Manila from the Wawa Dam located just above the Montalban Gorge in the early 1900s.

The Umiray–Angat Transbasin Project (UATP) is an expansion project of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the supply of the Angat Dam reservoir. The 13-kilometer-long (8.1 mi) 4.30-meter (14.1 ft) diameter tunnel-aqueduct system diverts waters from the Umiray River east of the Angat Basin. 20–30% of the water that is consumed in Metro Manila and its outlying regions is supplied by the Umiray Basin.

Indigenous people’s resistance against the Marcos dictatorship varied from case to case among the various indigenous peoples of the Philippines. The most documented cases are the various resistance movements towards the Marcos administration’s appropriation of indigenous lands, particularly in the case of the Chico River Dam Project and the Manila Water Supply III project on the Kaliwa River watershed, and the birth of the various separatist groups and their coalescing into the Moro conflict in the wake of news about the Jabidah Massacre.

The Sumag River Diversion Project (SRDP) is an expansion project of the Umiray-Angat Transbasin Project (UATP) Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the supply of the Angat Dam reservoir. The 600 meter long and 2.50 meter diameter tunnel-aqueduct system diverts waters from the Sumag River, a tributary of the Umiray River, east of the Angat Basin. The SRDP is forecasted to add 188 mld to the existing 777.6 mld capacity of the UATP.

References

  1. 1 2 Calleja, Nina (February 25, 2013). "P85B MWSS project: Same river in Tanay but different plan: Gov't to undertake project to head off possible water shortage in NCR". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Makati: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Añonuevo, Euan Paulo C. (June 11, 2014), Laiban Dam Project next on MWSS' PPP list, InterAksyon.com
  3. 1 2 3 "Laiban Dam Project Chronology of Events" (PDF). pcij.org. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 20, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Villegas, Karl L.; Pollisco, Filiberto A. Jr. (2008). "Floral survey of Laiban sub-watershed in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in the Philippines" (PDF). Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation. Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation. 4 (1): 1–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Crucio, Emmanuel; Parayno, Phares (2010). Laiban Dam Project: Interlocking Ethics, Values and People in a Philippine Watershed (PDF). The Sixteenth Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, 30 May - 1 June 2010 (Conference Proceedings). Hong Kong. ISBN   978-988-18934-1-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ Mallari, Delfin T. Jr. (July 12, 2013). "Sierra Madre tribe asks Congress to stop Laiban dam". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Makati City: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "What You Need to Know About the Kaliwa Dam Project". SPOT.PH.
  8. 1 2 3 "Frequently Asked Questions". METROPOLITAN WATERWORKS AND SEWERAGE SYSTEM. Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  9. ↑ Guido, Edson Joseph; de los Reyes, Che (2017), "The best of times? Data debunk Marcos's economic 'golden years'", ABSCBN News and Public Affairs
  10. ↑ "Martial law: costly lessons in economic development". GMA News Online. 21 September 2009.
  11. ↑ Punongbayan, JC (11 September 2017). "Marcos plundered to 'protect' the economy? Makes no economic sense". Rappler. Ortigas Center, Pasig.
  12. ↑ Magno, Alexander R., ed. (1998). "Democracy at the Crossroads". Kasaysayan, The Story of the Filipino People Volume 9:A Nation Reborn. Hong Kong: Asia Publishing Company Limited.
  13. ↑ "IN THE KNOW: The New Centennial Water Source Project". Philippine Daily Inquirer. March 14, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  14. ↑ "Japanese firm renews proposal on Kaliwa Dam project". www.pna.gov.ph.
  15. ↑ "China will make Philippines dam a reality, after four decades of protest". South China Morning Post. 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  16. ↑ Smith, Sandy (June 23, 2014). "New Starts: Closing 6 Blocks in D.C., Planning K.C. Streetcars From Afar, Manila's New Water Supply". nextcity.org. Next City . Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  17. 1 2 bw_mark (7 November 2018). "Integrated PPP vs Hybrid PPP: The case of Kaliwa Dam - BusinessWorld". BusinessWorld | The most trusted source of Philippine business news and analysis. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  18. ↑ "EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR THE PUBLIC (ESP) New Centennial Water Source (NCWS) - Kaliwa Dam Project" (PDF). Environmental Impact Assessment and Management Division, Environmental Management Bureau, Government of the Republic of the Philippines. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-22.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Camba, Alvin (2021-06-15). "How Duterte Strong-Armed Chinese Dam-Builders But Weakened Philippine Institutions". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  20. ↑ Chavez, Leilani (2019-11-05). "A Philippine tribe that defeated a dam prepares to fight its reincarnation". Mongabay Environmental News. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  21. ↑ "Coalition rejects China-funded Kaliwa Dam project" . Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  22. ↑ "Analysis | Two of China's Belt and Road projects reveal a flaw in the G-7′s new global financing plan". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  23. 1 2 "Water outage in Metro Manila expected to end as Philippines-China dam project breaks ground". The Star. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  24. 1 2 Cabico, Gaea Katreena (January 25, 2024). "Dumagat-Remontado folk to UN: China violated human rights in Kaliwa Dam project". Philippine Star. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  25. ↑ "TUNNEL BORING MACHINE (TBM) FOR THE KALIWA DAM PROJECT READY TO ROLL | METROPOLITAN WATERWORKS AND SEWERAGE SYSTEM" . Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  26. ↑ "Kaliwa Dam excavation to start in December". The Manila Bulletin . 2021-06-07. Archived from the original on 2021-06-06. Retrieved 2021-06-18.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.