Conserve water, KWD exec tells Aklan concessionaires

Kalibo, Aklan – Kalibo’s and nearby Aklan towns’ water supply is sufficient but everybody must conserve it, because this life-giving commodity is just utilized but not replenished.

This call came from Metro Kalibo Water District General Manager Renato Albar who assured that despite the increased demand for water connections due to a growing population, the water district’s source, which is the Aklan River, filtered through wells, is still adequate.

“We are fortunate here in Aklan because we have abundant water which is clean and of good quality. However, there is still a need to raise the awareness of Aklanons that water is very important for our existence, socially and economically, and that everyone must learn to conserve it” Albar said.

GM Albar revealed that currently, the Metro Kalibo District is also serving the water needs of residents of Kalibo’s adjoining municipalities like New Washington, Banga, Balete and the three barangays of Batan.

Talks are still on-going, according to Albar, for the MKWD’s extension of its services to other towns, although some have already established their own water systems.

Even as Kalibo and Aklan in general enjoy an adequate supply of water, Albar said the MKWD, together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here, is currently developing a 150 hectare water shed area in the town of Madalag to ensure the steady and sustained supply of water in the years to come.

The community-based project is now being planted with narra, agoho, lanzones and other fruit trees by the residents themselves who are paid for their accomplishments by the MKWD. The DENR, for its part, provides the much-needed technical assistance.

Derlito Rico, Environment Management Specialist (EMS) of the DENR here, also revealed that talks are ongoing on the National Irrigation Administration’s possible development of another 150 hectares as an additional water shed area adjacent to the one developed by the MKWD and the DENR together with the community. NIA also sources its water supply for farmers from the Aklan River.

The call for water conservation was issued earlier by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, brought about by the lingering dry spell that hit parts of Luzon, destroying crops and rendering water reservoirs to drop their water levels.

The call was joined by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, who said that the lack of rain has led to water levels going down “to critical levels in various water reservoirs, threatening to destroy crops if the rains do not come as expected.”

In Aklan, Rico said that the province is lucky to experience rains late afternoon or at night time, because the province has still sufficient vegetative and forest cover through the Panay Northwest Peninsula, the Campo Verde and the Panay Mountain Ranges Natural Park.

The vegetative cover, according to Rico, sequesters carbon dioxide, which it uses for food production, and the cycle contributes more rains and cool winds. (PIA/Venus G. Villanueva)