Buhisan dam water level down due to low rainfall

CEBU, Philippines - Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) is advising consumers to conserve water as the water level of the Buhisan Dam has started to go down yesterday due to the dry condition that lowered the rainfall volume in the past weeks.

MCWD spokesperson Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara in a statement said that from four meters in February, the water level of the Buhisan Dam is now down to 6.9 meters.

"As the water level nears the critical level of 9 meters, it indicates a lower volume of water," she said.

In effect, MCWD advised its consumers served by the dam to conserve water or to store water during off-peak hours which is from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

MCWD highly recommends the use of cisterns, tanks or large barrels for storing water good for 24 hours consumption.

Kara said that this is in line with MCWD's efforts to manage the water level of the dam so it can continue to supply water until the onset of the rainy season.

To mitigate the impact of the supply reduction, MCWD will implement a distribution management system to serve all affected consumers during certain times of the day.

The affected areas are Tisa, Labangon, Banawa, Salvador Ext., M. Velez St., Capitol Site, Ponce Compound, Kamputhaw (elevated areas), Green Valley, Peace Valley, Sitio Lubi-Lubi, Sitio Ipil-Ipil, Calamba, B. Rodriguez, Sambag 1, and Sambag 2.

Kara further said that they will regularly issue advisories until the critical level of nine meters is reached to encourage consumers to use water wisely until the supply normalizes. (FREEMAN)