By Leonardo Micua

 

AS Dagupan is the catch basin of water from the upland draining through the Sinocalan River in adjacent Sta. Barbara town before it meanders and empties into the Lingayen Gulf, it is no longer a stranger to flood.

But evidently, inundation had become more apparent and more frequent after the July 16, 1990 earthquake of 7.8 magnitude, that sank some parts of the city by at least one meter.

Dagupan City is only one meter above sea level, so no wonder Dagupan is constantly at risk from run-off water from the uplands and from high tide, that comes when the water from the Pantal River back flows inland through our obsolete drainage canals.

As a result of liquefaction, a natural phenomenon that occurs after a high-magnitude quake, the solid foundation that the city rests on turned into liquid form as early as 33 years ago.

Dagupan City was never the same again after that great earthquake.

That is why, Mayor Belen Fernandez was right when she defended the ongoing projects of DPWH seeking to build bigger and wider drainage system and afterwards elevate the roads.

This is because as far as Mayor Belen is concerned elevation is the best option available for the city to take after it sank by a meter during the 1990 earthquake.

Elevation is a proactive solution to the flooding problem of Dagupan City, not suction as what the past Flood Mitigation Commission widely advocated.

Mayor Belen proposed to elevate many low-lying barangay roads but these were all rejected by the seven majority councilors in the Sanggunian who are likely clinging to the study done by the past FMC, though aware that  Belen is now in charge.

At the same time, sucking flood water is impractical because it can only be done when the water of the river had all settled down, otherwise the water comes back on land.

Elevation is exactly what DPWH is doing to save us from floods. The agency projected that the floods will go higher and coming more often in a few years as global warming that causes climate change is expected to still further intensify.

Thus, the present flood in Dagupan City may have just succeeded in opening the eyes of  the people on the need to think outside of the box in solving the recurrent floods of a city that some ignorant bashers now call as “Dagupond Seaty”.

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Mayor Belen’s decision to choose elevation over suction (or in the dialect, “supsup”) to save a sinking city is patterned along the lines of a study conducted by the U.S.-based  Stimpson Center on Climate and Ocean Risk Vulnerability Index for Dagupan.

It was a comprehensive study on the climate risks being faced by Dagupan since its formative years that was presented to her and other officials and members of the socio-civic sectors of the community of Dagupan during a meeting at Star Plaza Hotel a few months ago.

Empirical data from 73 expert surveys on CORVI risk profile of Dagupan showed among others that historical flooding and evolving threats to water security “are the two main ecological problems that Dagupan City faces”. 

It declared that even without climate change, Dagupan is predisposed to high risk of flooding and liquefaction “because of its low topography location on a river delta, and the extensive seven river system”. 

Overtime, according to the study, the course of the river will naturally shift, leaving an abandoned portion of the river channel, created by sediment transported by previous floods and inundation.

As a result, loose deposit of silts and sands will comprise the areas of the old river channel, making Dagupan vulnerable to liquefaction if a high-magnitude earthquake occurs.

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