Upper Wawa Dam project now 93% complete

MANILA, Philippines — WawaJVCo Inc., a joint venture led by ports and casino tycoon Enrique Razon, has moved a step closer in completing its planned Upper Wawa Dam project, touted as the largest water supply dam to be constructed in the country in over 50 years.

The company, a unit of Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc., said the construction of the Upper Wawa Dam nears its completion as its roller-compacted concrete dam is expected to be finished earlier than scheduled.

The building of the 85-meter roller-compacted concrete dam will be completed “ahead of schedule,” pushing the overall completion of the project to 93 percent as of Feb. 28, the company said.

WawaJVCo added that the completion of the dam, which has a capacity of approximately 710 million liters per day (MLD), would help in preventing a water crisis happening in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“Once completed, the Upper Wawa Dam will help address water security and ensure sustainable water supply to benefit over 700,000 households or about 3.5 million Filipinos within the service area of MWSS (Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System),” the company said yesterday.

WawaJVCo said 518 MLD of the dam’s capacity would be allocated to supply Manila Water Co. Inc. under a 30-year off-take agreement, boosting the East Zone concessionaire’s capacity by over 30 percent.

The remaining 192 MLD of excess raw water supply remains available for contract, it said.

In previous statements, WawaJVCo noted that the Upper Wawa Dam is on track to start providing water supply by end-2025.

The Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project in Rizal is one of the national government’s infrastructure flagship projects that will address water security, specifically in the MWSS service area.

The project is the largest water supply dam to be constructed in over 50 years when Angat Dam was built.

The Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project is being developed by WawaJVCo, a joint venture of Prime Infra and San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders and Developers Group Inc.