Cagayan de Oro´s water drives sustainability of regional economic growth

The regional economy which grew fastest in 2008 is safe for now. Northern Mindanao was the fastest growing economy in the country in 2008, outperforming even the National Capital Region and the Philippine economy, official estimates released by the National Statistical Coordination Board show.

The annual estimates for regional economies show Region 10 growing by 5.3 percent in 2009, even faster than the national average of 3.8% and outstripping all regions from all over the country in terms of growth.

Although the growth rate was a step down from the 7.7 percent growth which made it the country´s third fastest growing regional economy in 2007, it still managed to top all other regions with its 5.3 percent growth in 2009.

Northern Mindanao has managed to sustained its status as Mindanao´s biggest regional economy over the past four years, increasing its share of the island´s economy from 27.9 percent in 2007 to 28.3 percent in 2008. It also accounted for the biggest share of the sectoral pies with 30.6 percent of service, 30.3 percent for industry and 24.5 percent for agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

Not the least, Region 10 also sustained its growth in per capita GRDP, growing by 3.2 percent in 2008, even if this was a slight decrease from its 5.5 percent growth in 2007.

It was the only region in Mindanao to record a per capita GRDP rate above the national average (one of only three regional economies to do so in 2008), and ranked third among all regions nationwide.

Everyone knows this robust performance at a time when the global economies of the first world countries are reeling from the world economic malaise is led by Cagayan de Oro City. Although many don´t know it, those who do know are only too well aware of how fragile that growth is when placed in the context of its potable water supply.

A study published by the Ateneo de Manila University six years ago has shown the city´s aquifers already being depleted by the unregulated abstraction of ground water by the increasing number of private deep wells and expanding production volume of the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD).

COWD´s 28 deep wells, 24 of which are operating, accounts for 76 percent of its total capacity of 170,000 cubic meters (m3) a day, the rest coming from the bulk water supply project of Rio Verde Water Consortium in Baungon, Bukidnon.

In 2001, COWD´s daily abstraction rate stood at 114,000 m3. In just eight years,abstraction from the deep wells increased by 16,000 m3 or 14%. Considering the safe yield (the rate at which the aquifers can adequately recharge the waters abstracted by the growing number of users) of 94,000 m3 earlier established by a JICA study in 1998, the COWD alone is already taxing the city´s aquifers by 38% over its present capacity. Add in the growing number of private (mostly unregistered) deep wells operated by private companies and the clear and present danger to the potable water supply becomes alarmingly clear.

Fortunately, Cagayan de Oro is the only city in the Philippines today to have a private bulk water supplier in Rio Verde, which has the capacity to supply it with 100,000 m3 of treated surface water daily now and 150,000 m3 by 2015. Why COWD insists on drawing only 40,000 m3 daily from it and not give the city´s aquifers a break is something its officials have yet to satisfactorily explain to the public. Neverthleless, Cagayan de Oro has something to fallback on, just in case…

But the bulk water supply by itself does not solve the problem of over abstraction of the city´s groundwater. It merely provides the city with a stop gap measure which can supply it with potable water should COWD and all other ground water abstractors decide to give the overtaxed aquifers a break to recharge.

Already, Councilor Emmanuel Abejuela sounded the alarm in a privilege speech two weeks ago that Cagayan de Oro´s aquifers stand the danger of ending up like Cebu city´s did, unusable because of saltwater instrusion.

If regional planners fail to consider the danger the continued untrammeled abstraction of Cagayan de Oro´s groundwater from its overtaxed aquifers poses on Northern Mindanao´s continued growth and expansion, the time is coming when the "good old days" would be upon us too soon with nothing left of the city "in bloom, in blossom and in boom" but gloom-filled with remorse and regret about how easily we could have controlled the problem but instead chose to let it run away from us.