RE-REGULATING POND

SAN MANUEL– Farmers in 10 towns and one city in eastern Pangasinan and towns in Tarlac can begin to look to more bountiful harvests given finally a steady irrigation from the San Roque Dam.

The P4.3-billion irrigation component of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Hydropower Dam, known as the re-regulating pond, was formally inaugurated last Friday, August 8 that could irrigate up to 55,000 hectares in Pangasinan.

The re-regulating pond will harness and store water releases from the San Roque Dam during its peak power generation to be utilized for irrigation. It has a pond area of 67 hectares and a holding capacity of 3.94 million cubic meters that can provide irrigation to about 55,000 hectares.

Towns serviced are San Manuel, Asingan, Sta. Barbara, Binalonan, Urdaneta City, Villasis, Calasiao, Mapandan, Manaoag, Mangaldan, Laoac and Malasiqui.

Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. (in barong) briefs former Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, on agricultural and irrigation situation in Pangasinan. The former senator was the guest of honor in the inauguration and blessing of the Re-Regulation Pond project at San Roque Dam. Others at the event were 6th District Representative Marlyn Primicias-Agabas, Cong. Conrado M. Estrella and Rosendo So of ABONO Partylist.

According to Engr. Reynaldo Mencias, project manager of the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Program (ARIIP), the construction of the reservoir started in February 2011 under a soft-loan package of US$89.15-million with the China Export-Import Bank.

The structure is capable of storing 4 million cubic meters of water being spilled by the hydropower-generating dam that could irrigate up to 55,000 hectares in Pangasinan.

The targeted service area could even be increased to 70,000 hectares to include some farmlands in San Manual and Moncada in Tarlac and Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija once the package for Ambayoan-Dipalo River irrigation System (ADRIS) and Lower Agno River Irrigation System (LARIS) is fully completed and made operational, Mencias said.

However, with only the reservoir’s west gate in operation, only 25,000 hectares of the 55,000 hectares service area of ARIIP are being fully irrigated.

ARIIP’s programmed expansion for ADRIS and LARIS suffered a setback after a technical committee of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) recommended its termination and instead renamed the project as “Agno River Irrigation System Extension Project (ARISEP).

ARISEP, however, is at standstill as no funds for its operations have been allotted for this year. A reliable source said funding for the project was again not included in the Department of Agriculture’s budget for next year.

In a technical study approved by NEDA’s regional office in La Union, ARISEP needs P2.65-billion to complete the infrastructure works for the whole irrigation package in the next two years.

Among the major scope of works to be undertaken include the construction of a 9-kilometer main canal that will connect the reservoir to the Ambayaoan-Dipalo river system, improvement of some 21-kms of service roads, construction of 210.97-kms lateral and sub-lateral canals and rehabilitation of 151.66-kms of drainage system, among others.

ARISEP’s work program also includes putting up of two 9-hectare catch-ponds below the reservoir to increase the pond size from 67hectares to 85 hectares to generate the potential service area of 70,800 hectares in Pangasinan and Tarlac.

Presidential Adviser on Food Security Francis Pangilinan, who was guest of honor and speaker, stressed the importance of irrigation to farmers, saying without irrigation, nothing could be harvested.

He said when he was senator and chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, he saw the importance of irrigation that must be prioritized by the government.

“Projects worth billions of pesos would be useless if the result would not redound to the increase of farmers’ income,” Pangilinan said. (Tita Roces)

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