ISABELA CITY, Basilan—The Isabela City Water District started water rationing in this city and in neighboring towns in its service area last week because of the impact of El Niño, management said in a statement.
The district administration said the move seeks to properly distribute available water supply and “to limit extraction from local water sources to cope with the long drought period.”
The rationing, it said, was in response to a recent Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s El Niño Advisory No. 10 projecting dry spell up to end of January and drought up to the end of 2016 first quarter in the island province.
The ICWD scheduled water rationing from 8 a.m. to 12 noon to some 20 city villages, including Aguada, Begang, Binuangan, Menzi, Port area, Sta. Cruz, La Piedad, Sunrise, Sumagdang, City Hall area, Lazaro Drive, Macopa, and Tabiawan.
Water allotment from 12 noon to 4 p.m. was set for other barangays, such as Baluno, Busay, Begang, Lanote. Market site, Calvario, Panunsulan, Dona Ramona, San Rafael, Mango Drive, Mahogany Drive, Tabuk, Timpul, Geras and Kaumpurnah, the district said.
The rationing timetable was slated based “on the status of the current water supply production, ICWD said, adding that “there might be instances when the rationing period may be shortened depending on water supply availability.”