Kaliwa Dam projects get funding boost

The long-awaited Kaliwa Dam project, most recently tagged at P19 billion, is seen getting a big boost with financing support from China to be firmed up next month, according to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

But MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco said yesterday in a briefing the agency also needed to find additional sources of raw water that could be built faster than Kaliwa since the dam would take four to five years to build.

“Kaliwa Dam [in Rizal province] will give us 600 million liters daily, and it is ready for signing when Chinese President Xi Jinping comes to visit in November,” Velasco said.

“[But] we will be encountering water shortage in the next two or three years if we don’t do something now,” he added.

Velasco meant that available sources of raw water for MWSS’s three concessionaires —Maynilad Water, Manila Water and Bulacan Water—might not be able to keep up with the yearly increase in demand.

“For an immediate solution, a [project proponent] has presented to the MWSS board its desire to initially put up a facility at Lower Ipo,” the administrator said.

Velasco said the planned Lower Ipo project was designed to provide 800 MLD, but it was also intended to bring out an initial 200 MLD to 400 MLD to support the supply needs of Maynilad and Manila Water while the Kaliwa Dam was still being built.