ILOILO: The city government of Iloilo is considering declaring a state of calamity due to the lack of water supply exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon and the onset of the warm-dry season.

"We are moving toward declaring a state of calamity. We are facing low water levels," Mayor Jerry Treñas said on Tuesday, April 2.

Treñas made the statement after a meeting with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO).

He said the Cenro and CDRRMO alerted him of the declining water levels in deep wells across the city's 180 barangay.

Based on the estimates of the two departments, nearly 15,000 households in the city "no longer have water."

"The main issue lies in access to water for bathing and washing dishes, as we observe that many residents are now resorting to buying water from refilling stations to fulfill these needs," Treñas said.

The city government is currently conducting surveys across all barangay and inventory of households equipped with water tanks. Through this inventory, city officials said they will deliver water directly to households.

Metro Pacific Iloilo Water (MPIW), the water distribution utility of this city, started rationing water on March 20 as the water level in its dam has reached critical level.

"The water level in Maasin Dam is rapidly declining due to the effects of El Niño. The absence of rain in the past weeks and the continuous increase of temperature results [in] low bulk water supply production," MPIW said.

The distribution utility said that as of April 1, the dam's water level was at 93.80 meters, which is below its normal operating level of 94.85 meters. The dam's critical level is 93.06 meters.

Meanwhile, the total bulk water supply is currently at 70.540 million liters per day (MLD), and its normal operating level is 71 MLD while the critical level is 65 MLD.

MPIW recently activated its transmission line in the Leganes-Jaro area to increase its water provision by 10 MLD, equivalent to approximately 4,803 drums of water.

In addition, MPIW has commenced preparatory measures for its Sahara mobile leak detection system to strengthen its ongoing efforts to repair leaks and to recover an additional 12 MLD.

"MPIW's main strategy to cushion water shortages that can come as a result of El Niño focuses on aggressive leak repair activities and collaboration with its bulk water suppliers for the implementation, development and energization of alternative and additional water sources," said Jedd Roxas, MPIW operations division head.