NIA announces completion of P913 million projects in Bohol
Pandemic fails to stop govt. effort to help Boholanos thru NIA
THE National Irrigation Administration (NIA), under administrator, Ricardo ‘Bong’ Visaya, has announced the completion of four major irrigation projects in Bohol province that are expected to boost both agricultural productivity and the local economy.
In a statement, Visaya said these projects include the P645 million ‘Benliw Small Irrigation Project (Benliw SRIP), located in the municipality of Ubay;
The P260 million Catigbian Small Water Impounding Project (Catigbian SWIP) in the town of Buenavista; P4.5 million Oghob Small Irrigation Project (Oghob SIP); and, the P4.2 million Kagawasan Communal Irrigation Project (Kagawasan CIP) in the town of San Miguel.
Benliw SRIP, whose water source comes from Pasanan Creek, is a medium-scale irrigation development project which includes the construction of a 21-meter-high zoned earth-fill dam with a length of 517 meters, a reservoir with a catchment area of 5.60 square kilometers that can store 2.86 million cubic meters (MCM) of water, irrigation and drainage canals, and other appurtenant structures.
The project is expected to provide timely and reliable irrigation water supply to 400 hectares of agricultural land in barangays of Benliw, Emelda, Cagting, and Sinandigan, benefitting 600 farmers and their families.
Aside from irrigation, the project is also expected to provide other incidental benefits, such as flood control, watershed management, aqua-culture as a supplementary food source to the residents in the area, and soil conservation since it prevents the soil from eroding or reducing fertility caused by over-usage.
Visaya, also a highly-decorated former Armed Forces chief, added the Benliw SRIP can also be used as an ‘agro-tourism destination site’ with its scenic and breath-taking view.
Catigbian SWIP, whose water source comes from Catigbian Creek, includes the construction of a 16.54-meter-high embankment dam with a total width of 6 meters, crest elevation of 152 meters, and crest length of 260 meters.
Its reservoir has a total storage capacity of 0.322 MCM. The project will provide year-round irrigation water supply to 60 hectares of agricultural land in the villages of Catigbian in Buenavista and San Carlos in Danao, benefitting 60 farmers and their families.
Oghob SIP, whose main source of water is the Oghob Spring, includes the construction of two check dams with two intakes, nine units of thresher crossing, 4 turn ins, and one turnout.
It has two stilling basins, two road crossings with a total length of 208 meters of main canal, and 1,173 meters of concrete lateral canal. The project will irrigate 44 hectares of agricultural land in Barangay Quirino with 34 farmer-beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Kagawasan CIP is funded under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program – Irrigation Component (CARP-IC) under force account works.
The project has a total service area of 25 hectares and generated area of 15 hectares, serving the farmers of Barangay Kagawasan with a year-round irrigation water supply.
It also includes the construction of a check dam, canal structure with an elevated flume of 50 meters, two units of drainage system, five turnouts, and three units of thresher crossing. The main canal has a total length of 661 meters.
Despite the pandemic, Visaya assured that his office is committed to deliver, on schedule, the many projects the NIA has been pursuing for the benefit of the Filipino farmers, their families and their communities.
