Local officials are warning that the city’s water scarcity has escalated into a crisis.
Atty. Rhenan Diwas, department head of the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO), during Monday’s flag raising ceremony emphasized the severity of the situation and that the local government is treating the issue with the utmost urgency.
“Among all environmental concerns confronting Baguio today, none is more urgent and more defining than water security and waste water management,” Diwas said.
The shortage, according to Diwas, can be attribute to rapid urban growth, overpopulation, and deforestation driven by residential expansion and road construction.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong ealrier disclosed that nearly the entire city is currently grappling with a lack of proper water supply.
“It’s already 90% of barangays affected,” Magalong said. “Definitely, El Niño will really hit starting July, or probably earlier, until September. And there will be an 83% probability that it will extend until December or probably the first quarter.”
Compounding the supply shortage is the growing contamination of the city’s remaining water sources. Recent government inspections revealed that some households and commercial establishments are engaging in illegal waste disposal, further threatening the ecosystem.
Diwas noted that inspectors found evidence of the “discharge of untreated waste water, improper septic systems, illegal dumping” directly into local creeks and rivers. This pollution generates foul odors and allows toxic waste to gradually seep into the soil, ruining underground water reserves.
The city official warned that the dual crisis of water security and wastewater management poses a severe threat to public health, tourism, and sustainable economic growth but assured residents that the city is developing a strategy that includes repairing broken infrastructure, launching reforestation initiatives, and issuing heavy fines to anyone caught dumping waste into waterways. With a report from Stesha Lev Tamangen/UC Intern
