The State of Cagayan de Oro’s Water Supply
Even back when the Cagayan Waterworks was taken over by the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA), Cagayan de Oro’s water supply was already unable to keep pace with the city’s expanding population.
Beginning as a two-man operation in 1954, then Mayor Justiniano R. Borja had a well dug at the end of Pabayo Street, a reservoir built on the Bontula Hill in Macasandig, and a pump installed at the Mabulay Subdivision where the COWD Administration building now stands. Even with these, it was still difficult to cope with the city’s rapid expansion.
In the 50s if you were living in Lapasan, many relied on rainwater for drinking, using water tanks that collected rainwater. Many areas had artesian wells open to the public for common use. Even during the 1960s, with water already piped directly to houses in the old poblacion, potable water remained scarce, and residents remained dependent on the Cagayan River for most of their water needs.
At best, the flow of water from NAWASA to the residences was intermittent. It was only at night when water pressure rose that water could be had in the second floor. Residents stocked water on the first floor and still washed their laundry at the Cagayan River.
When Atty. Reuben Canoy became City Mayor in 1971, he created the Water Development Commission and soon after, President Ferdinand Marcos created the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) charged with organizing water systems throughout the country.
On August 1, 1973, Mayor Canoy converted the Water Development Commission into the into the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD) the first ever water district in the country.
On January 4, 1974 COWD was issued Conditional Certificate Conformance (CCC) No. 001 by the LWUA.
COWD started as a self-reliant, quasi-public entity with the implementation of the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973 (PD 198), which created water districts nationwide. Under the leadership of Engr. Ernesto B. San Juan, COWD transformed itself from scratch to an organization clothed in efficiency, competence, credibility and success.
COWD started with only 3,500 service connections when it took over the management of the defunct NAWASA or Water Development Commission in 1973. This was expected from an average water production of only 12,200 cubic meters per day distributed to consumers through transmission lines only 39 kilometers long.
Today, the water COWD distributes to the its concessionaires is periodically tested by a laboratory in Bgy Macasandig and drawn from twenty-eight (28) wells distributed in six (6) well fields at Barangays Macasandig, Balulang, Calaanan, Bugo, Tablon and Agusan. Production facilities include three (3) major Booster Pumping Stations and eight (8) reservoirs.
COWD, which became a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) in March 1992, was highly recognized for its remarkable success.
In 1993, former mayor Pablo P. Magtajas acknowledged it as being instrumental in fueling the city’s growth and commended COWD for its efficiency, competence, responsiveness to the needs of the people and sensitivity to public opinion, referring to the affordable rates, which were multiplied only 11 times, from the minimum charge of P20 for 10 cubic meters in 1973, to P218.40 since 2014 up to the present.
COWD also reaped laurels as the Most Outstanding Water District in the Philippines in 1986, 1987 and 1999, before being elevated to the LWUA-WD Hall of Fame on January 28, 2000.
Not the least, COWD’s Bulk Water Supply Project (BWSP) is the first ever in the entire Philippines. COWD began receiving bulk treated water from Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. beginning January 2007 with an initial volume of 40,000 cubic meters per day.
Together with its Lateral Improvement Project, this enabled COWD to accommodate the 100,000 cubic meter production of the Bulk Water Supply, extend its service area, and further improve water service to the public.
Today, however, despite COWD’s current daily production capacity of 110 to 120 Million Liters per Day (MLD) equivalent to 110,000 to 120,000 cubic meters per day (cmpd), it has been unable to deliver/distribute a continuous water supply to the city’s elevated barangays.
When Rio Verde Water started to supply bulk water to COWD through government procurement law (R.A. 9184) in January 1, 2007 in the West Service Area of COWD, people in the elevated areas of Brgys. Carmen, Bulua, Patag, as far as Iponan, and even Opol, Misamis Oriental heaved a sigh of relief when they finally had water all day.
More water would have been forthcoming from Rio Verde but then COA disallowed them from delivering more water to COWD at only P10.45 per cubic meter.
When Pueblo de Oro, A. Brown, and Vista Land started developing the Uptown area, COWD was in no capacity to supply them. Thus, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) granted those entities with conditional Certificates of Public Convenience (CPC) to develop their own water systems and provide water to their own locators and homeowners, until such time that COWD could supply them with what they needed.
It was during this time when the Supreme Court ruled that the term “franchise” in Section 47 of P.D. 198, the Charter of Local Water Districts, was unconstitutional.
With this, the CPC of the Uptown real estate firms ceased to be Conditional. Pueblo De Oro continues to maintain its own water system and supplies water to its business area of coverage including SM City, as does A. Brown and Vista Land.
Along with this, independent water producers began supplying water directly to communities not supplied by COWD. Mindanao Cooperative Water Service Federation (MCWS), Kyogojo Cooperative, JE Hydro & Bio-Energy Corporation, and South Balibago Resources, Inc.(SBRI) have undertaken Level-3 Water Systems that bring round the clock water supply to Barangays Dansolihon, Mambuaya, Bayanga, Lumbia, Baikingon, and Indahag. Task Force Patubig (TFP) utilizing JE Hydro’s technology is scheduled to finish its Level-3 project in Brgy. Balubal this year.
Cagayan de Oro’s water consumers have for so long been denied water which is their fundamental human right. After COWD’s continued inability to extend its services to waterless barangays, privately-owned-and-funded firms and cooperatives have stepped in to answer the public outcry for water.
The presence of South Balibago, JE Hydro, Kyogojo Engineering Service Cooperative and Mindanao Cooperatives Water Service Federation demonstrates beyond any doubt that the private sector is fully capable of meeting the rising demand for water of the rapidly growing Metropolitan Cagayan de Oro at no cost to the local government.
Rio Verde, already granted with the “City Council Resolution Interposing No Objection for its Intention to Provide Level-3 Water Supply for all the Barangays of Cagayan de Oro City”, has vowed to deliver 24-hour efficient, potable and safe drinking water to the households since it has the biggest Water Treatment Facility in terms of capacity of all the private players now operating in the city.
Local government bodies and agencies tasked with looking out for the health and well-being of Kagay-anons would do well to consider giving the private sector free reign and let the consumer decide who can best provide them with efficient, reliable and safe drinking water.
