Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia announced on Monday that the city is considering a public-private partnership (PPP) to develop an upland water dam. This initiative aims to increase the local water supply and address the issue of saltwater intrusion caused by private water drilling activities. During a press conference, Garcia highlighted that the project is part of a broader strategy to combat the city’s water scarcity, exacerbated by insufficient supply from the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD). The mayor pointed out that the demand in the Cebu metropolitan area, which falls under MCWD’s franchise, ranges from 500 to 550 million liters per day, while the current production capacity is only between 200 to 250 million liters per day. This shortfall has led residents and businesses to resort to private drilling, despite MCWD’s refusal to grant permits for such activities. Garcia emphasized that the proposed dam would significantly enhance MCWD’s supply and could be modeled after the water desalination projects previously approved by MCWD. He also noted that without such a dam, 90 percent of the rainwater currently flows into the sea, representing a significant loss of potential freshwater resources.
