Pangasinan will do dredging to reduce floods, says governor

CALASIAO, Pangasinan – Pangasinan Gov. Ramon Guico III on Wednesday (September 2) said the provincial government is pushing for the dredging of major rivers, most of which have become heavily silted, to reduce or eliminate Pangasinan’s seasonal struggles with widespread floods. 

“We are going for dredging,” he told the Inquirer in  telephone interview.

READ: Halting river dredging ill-timed as floods worsen in Pangasinan

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Guico stressed the need for well-planned and high-quality river protection and infrastructure projects that would address flooding in the long term.

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“We should have well thought out and quality river protection and infrastructure projects—a multi-year contract and not a piecemeal approach,” Guico said.

“There must be a study of all major rivers and tributaries in Pangasinan to determine the flow of water,” he added. “Government agencies such as the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and of Public Works and Highways should conduct these studies so that a feasible river restoration project can be implemented.”

The provincial government has started dredging the Limahong Channel in Lingayen, one of the deltas of the Agno River. The other delta is located in Labrador town.

The project has been contracted out to a private company at no cost to the provincial government, with the company retaining ownership of the materials dredged from the river, because the provincial government has no funds for dredging northward, Guico said.

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However, Guico said the effects of the project have yet to be felt because the contractor has only recently begun removing silt from the mouth of the channel.

The company just dredged the entrance of Limahong so the dredging equipment could enter the channel,” he said.

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Guico also dismissed reports claiming that solar farms established in the mountainous areas of Pangasinan have contributed to the province’s massive flooding.

He said the areas where the solar farms were established had already lost much of their vegetation even before the projects were put up. While reforestation efforts have been undertaken, he said some of the newly planted trees have been destroyed by fires.

Guico said the provincial government is also coordinating with Dagupan City officials on the possible dredging of the Sabangan River, the delta of the Sinucalan-Marusay-Pantal River system, located between Dagupan City and Binmaley and leading toward the Lingayen Gulf.

Sabangan River is a critical downstream bottleneck, slowing the flow of floodwaters from neighboring towns like Calasiao and Binmaley out toward the Lingayen Gulf.

Guico also pointed out the need to clear the waterways of fish pens as these block the flow of water specially during  monsoon season.

Guico also said that while the provincial government has already begun dredging the Marusay River, the effort could be undermined if the Sabangan River remains heavily silted.

“If Sabangan is heavily silted, floodwater will be trapped in the river system because it cannot freely flow toward the Lingayen Gulf,” he said.

The provincial government is likewise preparing to undertake the dredging of the Nayum River, a  natural waterway that marks the geographic boundary between Infanta town in Pangasinan, and Santa Cruz town in Zambales.

At of presstime, at least 15 towns and two cities have barangays that are under water, with most still not passable by light vehicles, according to the Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

READ: Lingayen folk raise concerns over planned Limahong River dredging

The municipalities of Mangatarem and Calasiao and Dagupan City still have national roads that are not passable by light vehicles, said Pia Navata Flores, spokesperson of the PDRRMO.

The other towns with flooded barangays for weeks now are Agno, Mabini, Aguilar, Binmaley, Bugallon, Lingayen, Malasiqui,  Sta. Barbara, San Jacinto, and Basista as well as San Carlos City.

Basista was the latest to confront floods  because of the swelling of the Camiling River.

In Calasiao, all 24 barangays experienced flooding, but five barangays are under about four feet high of floods, said Kristine Joy Soriano, spokesperson of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.

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As of 5 am of Wednesday,  3,256 families (10,654 individuals)  are still inside evacuation centers in different towns. /jpv