In bone-dry Isabela, desperately seeking rain
GLT
By Jeff Canoy, ABS-CBN News and Kris Danielle Suarez, abs-cbnNEWS.com
| 02/17/2010 10:57 AM
TUMAUINI, Isabela - The sun was at its peak at the small town of
Tumauini in Isabela province but still Fely Santiago, a corn farmer,
toiled away in her cornfield.
Santiago carried a long black PVC pipe to her plot, in an attempt to
divert water from a nearby river and irrigate her dying corn crops.
Most of what she planted have already been destroyed by the dry spell
in the province due to the effects of El Niño in the region.
"Kahit kayod kami ng kayod, kung wala namang hanapbuhay dahil wala na
kaming ma-ani... Natutuyo ang mais, kahit may laman 'yan, eh parang
monggo na," she said.
Fely says she's been praying for rain for the past week, but as the
days go by with nary a sight of a change in weather, she is losing
hope that she can still save her crops.
If she is unable to salvage anything during harvest season, she says
he won't be able to pay back money she borrowed to invest on the
crops. Fely has three children.
"Kung talagang wala na kaming ma-ani, wala na kaming pambili ng
pagkain. Siguro ibebenta na lang namin yung kalabaw."
El Niño drying up hectares of farmland
Tumauini is one of hardest hit towns in Isabela. The province was
placed under a state of calamity on February 10 due to the threat of
El Niño. (ABS-CBN News Video: Isabela under state of calamity due to
dry spell http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/regions/02/10/10/isabela-under-s...)
The El Niño phenomenon is a climate phenomenon characterized by
unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, according
to the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administratio (NOAA).
(Read: NOAA primer on El Niño http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/el-nino-story.html)
"El Niño is an oscillation of the ocean-atmosphere system in the
tropical Pacific having important consequences for weather around the
globe," the NOAA states.
Here in the Philippines, El Niño events are "associated with drier
than normal conditions which cause dry spells or even drought," the
national weather bureau PAGASA said.
The PAGASA cited the agricultural sector as the most vulnerable to
these droughts, with great losses seen in areas devoted to rice and
corn.
Isabela has been cited by the bureau as among the provinces whose rice
and corn crops are "highly vulnerable" to the effects of El Niño. (See
map: http://kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/cab/ensoadvi.htm)
According to the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region 2, out of
183,000 hectares of cornfields in the region (which includes the
provinces of Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino),
121,000 hectares have already been affected by the drought. Around
7,000 hectares of those have already been considered "totally
damaged," with the crops no longer useable.
Rice fields have also been affected. Out of 251,000 hectares in Region
2, 25,200 hectares are affected, with 1,200 hectares declared totally
damaged.
Isabela, considered the biggest corn producer and the second largest
producer of rice (next to Nueva Ecija), is already suffering huge
economic losses due to the drought.
The province's Provincial Agriculture Office has already reported P1.6
billion worth of losses in their corn and rice fields as of February.
To put the gravity of the losses this year, back in 2007 - the last
experience of drought by the province - total losses throughout the
dry period was just P1 billion.
Critical water levels
Isabela's problem with the drought is exacerbated by the critical
water levels of the Magat Dam, the primary source of irrigation water
for farmlands in the area.
Halfway through February, Magat Dam plant manager Melvyn Eugenio said
water level in the dam's reservoir is at 165 meters above sea level.
Eugenio explained that if the reservoir's water level reaches 160
meters, the hydroelectric plant will stop its production of
electricity, which would then create electricity shortages in the
region.
Meanwhile, if the water level reaches 147 meters, irrigation would not
be possible because the water won't be able to reach the mouth of the
dam's spillway.
On record, the lowest water level recorded at the reservoir during the
1990s was 157 meters, and it occurred during the height of the summer
season when most farmers are done harvesting crops.
This time, the drastic decrease in water levels have occurred in
February, when most farmers have just planted their crops last
December or January.
"This is the worst na na-attain namin ang water level na ito," Eugenio
said.
Due to the critical water levels at the Magat Dam reservoir, the
National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has started scheduling
irrigation for farmers. Prior to the drought, farmers are assured of
round-the-clock irrigation of their crops.
In a related move, the Isabela provincial government have scheduled 10-
hour-long blackouts, affecting several towns in Isabela and
neighboring Quirino and Ifugao, due to the low power output of Magat
Dam.
The blackouts, scheduled on Wednesday, will affect Santiago City and
the towns of Ramon, San Isidro and Cordon in Isabela; Alfonso Lista in
Ifugao; and the municipalities of Cabarroguis, Diffun, Saguday,
Aglipay, Maddela and Nagtipunan in Quirino. The blackouts will last
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
From too much to too little
Magat Dam administrators said that they had lots of water in their
reservoir back in October and November, a time when several storm
systems lashed Northern Luzon and dumped record amounts of rainfall in
the area. But they needed a buffer and were asked to release water to
make room in the dam for rainfall they expected in December as
forecasted by weather bureau PAGASA.
However, since Pepeng, no storm visited in Isabela, so instead of
being able to impound water and save up for the dry season, they had
very little water left in the reservoir, leading to the critical water
levels presently being recorded.
"As you all know, yung typhoon Ondoy, typhoon Pepeng... we have to
create some buffer zone dito sa dam kaya tinapon ang tubig para
pagdating ng mga ulan noong (November-December) meron pupuntahan ng
tubig and those expecting yung mga darating pang bagyo. Ang problema,
'di na dumating yung bagyo. wala na. Natapon na, 'di na nating puwede
ibalik," Eugenio said.
Isabela provincial governor Grace Padaca wondered if the current water
level in the dams were affected by the panic late last year of dams
bursting or overflowing with water after the storms back in October.
Back then, the flooding in Pangasinan and parts of other Central Luzon
provinces were blamed on the release of water from several dams, as
water levels rose due to the typhoons. This issue then triggered a
Senate inquiry on the protocols on dam water release, leading dams to
release water from their reservoirs more regularly to avoid bursting
dams.
Padaca wondered if too much caution on overflowing reservoirs might
have been a contributing factor on the current water levels of the
reservoir.
"Looking back kasi... dahil sa nangyari sa Pangasinan noong bagyong
Pepeng - na parang sabi nila sumabog yung dam pero di naman talaga nag-
overflow ang dam - Nabatikos-nabatikos ang NIA, ang mga dam
operators," she said.
"I don't know if that had an effect dito sa amin sa Magat Dam na, baka
pag-umulan... masyadong sobrang laman yung tubig sa mga reservoir
kaya't nagpakawala. 'Yan tuloy, wala nang sumunod after Pepeng," she
said.
Padaca proposes there should be a study done if there really is a
correlation between the current water levels and the release of water
from the dams late last year.
She added, "siguro lessons learned, huwag tayo padadala sa emosyon...
Dahil binabatikos tayo, kung ano yung gusto [ng mga tao iyon na ang
gagawin]. Eh doon na tayo [sa] dapat [gawin]. Dapat ilaban natin 'yong
dapat [gawin]."
Cloud seeding 'too late'
Magat dam administrators along with the DA are trying to alleviate the
problems brought on by El Nino and the shortage of irrigation water
from the dam.
They have been conducting cloud seeding operations based in Bagabag
airport in Nueva Vizcaya. The DA said that this is the quickest way
they know how to solve the problem - trying to create artificial rains
for farmlands and to increase water in the dam.
As of posting time, no substantial rainfall has occurred in the
region.
Chemtrad, the company tasked by the DA and SN Aboitiz Power (the
operator of the Magat Dam hydroelectric plant) to conduct the seeding
operations, said it might be too late to conduct the operations.
Chemtrad said clouds which are needed for the seeding are rare during
this time. Cloud seeding should have been done last November, or all-
year-long like in Thailand, they said.
50 pumps for 187,000 farmers
As the region waits for rain, the local government is lending water
pumps to farmers to help pump water to bone-dry fields.
However, they only have 50 water pumps available to 187,000 farmers
waiting for irrigation water.
A water pump would be able to serve only 10 farmers, therefore only
500 out of the thousands of farmers would benefit from the pumps - a
very small fraction.
Padaca is appealing to the national government and DA to lend them
water pumps from other regions in the Philippines, particularly from
areas where there is no drought, or areas where the pumps aren't in
use.
"You can't expect them (the farmers) to buy irrigation pumps at 40
thousand pesos each. And then yung pang-crudo po. So kailangan namin
ang tulong dito," she said.
For the long term, officials are recommending farmers to grow crops
that are less dependent on water, like tobacco, peanuts, and other
legumes.
"Probably farmers should plant plants [that are] also not-so-dependent
sa water. Mga monggo, mga peanuts. They are not dependent so much on
water. 'Yan ang mga alternative crop na kailangan nilang itanim,"
Eugenio said.
"We can only prepare ourselves for the future na lang. Like ano ba
itong inireccommend sa aking ng ating mga provincial agriculturists.
Sabi nila ay instead of corn kasi, mag-diversify. Huwag lahat ilagay
sa mais. Use organic fertilizer para hindi masyado ang evaporation.
Lahat prospective na eh. Because ngayon, talagang cloud seeding lang
kung may ulap, bomba, saka yung pang-crudo nila. Other than that, what
else can we do?" Padaca said.
'Dry' disaster
She also said agricultural problems in their province would have a big
impact on the nation.
"What happens to Isabela will affect the whole Philippines. We are the
number one biggest producer of corn in the entire country, bar none.
So kung walang suplay sa mais, walang suplay sa mga feeds na pampakain
ng mga manok at baboy at pag nakataon, tataas na naman ang presyon ng
karne," Padaca said.
Padaca said that people should also bear in mind that this is a "dry"
disaster.
"A calamity in Isabela, especially among farmers, is not only when
yung mga tao ay basa, nababaha, nasa tuktok ng mga bubong nila dahil
nakakalamidad sila. This is a dry kind of disaster. You cannot see
[it]. Parang walang emergency dito. Para akala mo, OK lang... Pero
hindi. After this, what happens? Magugutom ang mga tao," she added.
The current El Niño, the PAGASA said, continues to sustain its
moderate strength and is recently in its mature stage, and is
forecasted by PAGASA to strectch all the way up to May or June.
Because of this, all that farmers like Aling Fely can do now is wait
for the heavens to answer their prayers, and for rain to fall.
as of 02/17/2010 7:14 PM
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