Flood control among new Davao mayor’s priorities

DAVAO CITY — One of the priorities of the city government under Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is a permanent solution to Davao City’s flooding problem.

“I have talked with Mayor Inday and the priority would be a flood control program along NHA Bangkal,” acting Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte said in an interview with media at City Hall Monday (July 4). Ms. Carpio is on leave up to July 22.

The NHA Bangkal area, next to the Talomo River, is a perennial flooding site along with Matina Pangi, Matina Crossing, Matina Aplaya, and Talomo.

These areas were the most affected in the flooding which killed at least 25 people, left more than 300 families homeless and destroyed millions worth of property in 2011 when Ms. Carpio first became mayor.

The acting mayor said the city will consider seeking national government help to establish two pumping stations for Sta. Ana and Agdao to help release water especially when rainfall is strong.

“There is a plan to create a team to address the flooding problem,” he said, adding that the city is prepared for the La Niña but only as far as informing the people on the location of evacuation areas.

A four- year World Wildlife Fund ( WWF) study initiated in 2011 evaluated the Business Risk Assessment and Management of Climate Change Impacts in 16 cities — Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Laoag, Zamboanga, Angeles, Batangas, Naga, Tacloban, Butuan, General Santos, Puerto Princesa and Santiago.

It found Davao City susceptible to dangerous floods in areas adjacent to the city’s rivers, even though it is located in a typhoonfree zone.

Several rivers run through the city and drain into the Davao Gulf. The largest of these watercourses are the Davao and Talomo Rivers.

“Unless and until this rainfall trend reverses itself, it is likely that Davao’s growing economy will have to manage increased rainfall, river flow and flooding,” said Jose Maria Lorenzo Tan, vice- chairman and the president and CEO of WWF- Philippines.

The risk of flooding in the city is increased as its residents produce more waste with a total of 16 cubic meters of waste collected by the Drainage Management Unit from the canals and drainage on a daily basis. These waste materials, most of them plastics, disrupt drainage system.

In assessing the adaptive capacity of Davao City for climate change, the study shows both advantages and challenges in the city’s climate-defined future. They include rising sea levels, increased sea surface temperature, ocean acidification and variability of rainfall. The increasing migrant population of the city makes matter worse.

Mr. Tan said Davao is starting to emerge as a destination for an increasing number of migrants. In the past 20 years, the city has logged over 692,000 new inhabitants and registered the highest population growth rate of 2.88% compared to other cities in the last 20 years.

The rise in the city’s population is only paralleled by the growth in the number of motor vehicles, 3.5 times the 37,378 vehicles in 1990, to 136,283 motor vehicles in 2010. Aside from the limited road-widening projects along the main highways, there is as yet no plan for the development of a more sustainable transportation system for the city. —