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The government is now considering dredging parts of the Cagayan River to prevent it from overflowing during typhoons.
This after a large part of the Cagayan valley region suffered heavy flooding due to torrential rains caused by Typhoon Ulises (international name: Vamco).
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) proposed dredging the mouth of the Cagayán River, which has now become shallow after years of heavy sedimentation.
Volume increase
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the mouth of the Cagayan River has become a “bottleneck,” citing a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
He noted that Jica had proposed widening the mouth of the river. However, due to the bridge in that area, this may not be possible; therefore, they will be dredging 30 kilometers from the river mouth instead.
“If we don’t touch the width of the river, we will make it deeper by dredging so that its volume [of water] it will be the same as expanding it, ”Cimatu explained during President Duterte’s briefing in Tuguegarao on Sunday.
He said they plan to make the dredging free for the government by allowing the contractor to sell the harvested silt.
“But they have to pay like what the mining company pays, a special 4 percent tax as government income,” Cimatu said.
Similar dredging activities are also currently being proposed in Camarines Sur and other parts of the country, which also regularly suffer from flooding due to heavily sedimented rivers.
Dam project
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said another possible long-term solution to the perennial flooding of the Cagayan river is the construction of an “upstream dam” before the Magat dam.
Cusi said there is currently a dam construction project, which the DOE certified as a “project of national importance” due to its energy production and flood mitigation potential.
He said that the project was approved by the affected LGUs, but that the indigenous people are against it.
Pending poll
The DENR attributed the recent floods, which affected many parts of the Cagayán region, to the large volume of water that gushes from the tributary rivers of the Cagayán River, swollen by Typhoon Ulises.
“I was talking to my geologist a while ago that the volume of water, which came [from typhoon Ulysses] it is more than the capacity or capacity of the Cagayan river, ”said Cimatu.
Duterte said he sees nothing wrong with the release of the water from the Magat Dam during Typhoon Ulysses.
“It is a dam. They have to let it go. Otherwise, we will have a catastrophe. You have to release, ”Duterte said in an ambush interview during his visit to Camarines Sur on Sunday.
Cimatu, however, said at the Tuguegarao situation briefing that they will nonetheless discuss allegations that the flooding was caused by the release of water from the Magat dam at the height of Typhoon Ulises.
The indictment has led the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to promote centralized protocols for the release of water for dams in times of calamity.
The Interior Secretary, Eduardo Año, said he will present his proposal at the next National Council for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (NDRRMC).
Illegal minery
While investigating the cause of the recent massive floods in Cagayán, President Duterte called on DENR to stop illegal logging and mining in the areas surrounding the Cagayan Valley.
Cimatu said it has already issued a cease and desist order against small-scale illegal miners in the area and has also filed cases against their operators.
Regarding reforestation efforts in the Cagayan mountains, he said that they will coordinate with other government agencies on this initiative.
