Study of Pangasinan river systems urged
FOR FLOOD CONTROL PROGRAM
FOURTH District Rep. Christopher de Venecia asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to conduct a thorough and comprehensive feasibility study on the river systems not only in Dagupan but also in neighboring towns to determine where the critical areas are that cause severe flooding each year.
De Venecia sought the study when he met Public Works Secretary Mark Villar in Manila to ask for more projects to mitigate the flooding in Dagupan after getting inundated twice recently due to the southwest monsoon rains.
The project, he said, that should study the rivers systems in all six districts should become the blueprint of the DPWH in allocating its resources to address the flooding problem in Pangasinan, De Venecia told newsmen last week.
He added the result of the study will also be incorporated in the bill he will file in Congress for the creation of the Pangasinan River Control System, a similar body being sought in Pampanga which is now also experiencing the effects of severe flooding.
He said the proposal of the Dagupan City Council for the construction of a diversion channel that will divert the flood waters from the Sinocalan River in Sta. Barbara to Lucao river in Dagupan City cannot be done without a thorough and comprehensive study.
“We must also consider that in this kind of project, it might be able to solve the flooding problem in Dagupan but could be aggravating the flooding in other districts of Pangasinan,” he said.
At the same time, De Venecia announced the inclusion of funding for three slope protection projects along the Pantal River located in Barangays Bacayao Sur and Norte and Caranglaan in the 2019 general appropriations act to be approved by Congress.
He said he recommended eight slope protection projects and dikes but only three was approved but he vowed to work for the inclusion of the five other slope protection ands dike projects in the supplemental budget to be approved by Congress.
In the meantime that these projects are still pending, he asked the DPWH, and the local government of Dagupan to install flood gates in the existing gaps on the flood control dikes to prevent floodwaters from spilling to residential and commercial areas.
Meanwhile, he cited advantages and disadvantages in removing the sandbar in Pugaro. He said it could accelerate the inflow of water from the upland to to the Lingayen Gulf but without sandbars, water from the sea might backflow to the city on account of the rise of level of water in the ocean as a result of the melting of ice in the Arctic and Antartic regions.
This is a development that should be addressed in the feasibility study.
De Venecia also announced the construction soon of an evacuation center on a lot owned by the Dagupan City government in Bonuan Boquig. where residents of Bonuan can shelter in case of storm surge. (Leonardo Micua).
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