THE tidal floods in Dagupan are here to stay.

Two engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have opined that there is practically no solution to the long-standing and perennial flooding in parts of the city caused by high tide as the problem is now worsened by global warming.

Director Fidel Ginez, chief of the Agno Flood Control Office, and Second Highway District Engineer Rodolfo Dion, said with the city being at about sea level, residents will just have to learn to live with the daily rush of water when high tide sets in.

Speaking at the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas Forum in Dagupan last week, the two engineers concurred with the opinion expressed earlier by city officials blaming the daily tidal flood to global warming.

City Administrator Alvin Fernandez said the flooding is caused by the rise of ocean level as a result of the melting of ice in the Polar Regions due to excessive production of carbon dioxide that causes global warming.

DREDGING

Ginez and Dion said an interim solution that could be undertaken is dredging parts of the Pantal River to ease the exit of tidal water back to the sea when the tide goes down.

Ginez, however, acknowledged that dredging will prove to be costly, citing that one big dredging machine, which has a capacity to comb out 4,200 cubic meters of silt in one day, will consume about 10,000 liters of diesel fuel in three weeks, equivalent to about P300,000.

This high cost is the most probable reason why the dredging machine bought by the city in 2006 at a cost of P50 million from a letter of credit secured with Land Bank of the Philippines has not been used as frequently as envisioned.

Ginez said a dredging machine from the DPWH was stationed at the Calmay River last year to dredge silt, using a P5 million fund allotted for fuel by 4th district Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr.

GARBAGE

At the same time, Ginez called on residents of Dagupan to stop disposing their garbage to the drainage canals to avoid the obstruction of the flow of water to rivers and the sea.

Dion observed that the flooding along portions of the Bonuan road during heavy rains is caused by the volume of garbage clogging drainage canals leading to the Tanap River.

Meanwhile, Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. said in an earlier interview that Dagupan’s tidal flood problem is no different from the experience of some areas in Cambodia and Vietnam wherein residents were able to convert the flooding into opportunities.—LM

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