Provincial water districts El Niño-ready, says regulator

MANILA, Philippines  —The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) carried out more than P1 billion worth of water security projects in 2023, allowing more households to gain access to stable water supply.

LWUA Administrator Vicente Revil said in a public briefing on Tuesday that most of their eight projects implemented in the previous year had focused on the development of the 533 water districts that the agency oversees, as well as sanitation projects.

Revil added that the projects included a water district development sector program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that resulted in 214,000 more households in the provinces having access to reliable supply.

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He did not disclose ADB’s total investment, but documents from the multilateral lender showed that a P13.21-million grant had been approved to cover the water supply and sanitation projects of 12 water districts.

LWUA, a government-owned and -controlled corporation mandated to oversee the development of water supply systems in provinces outside Metro Manila, currently serves 648 local government units across the country. It is the counterpart of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

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To date, Revil said the water districts had served 22.3 million Filipinos through more than 700 development and sanitation projects.

LWUA is set to open at least 135 water sources this year through irrigation dams, Revil noted. These will be used for domestic and commercial supply, as well as for agricultural purposes.

With the El Niño weather phenomenon expected to persist until the second quarter of the year, Revil assured consumers within the water districts’ service areas that there would be enough supply during the dry season. INQ