Butuanon Creek Placed Under DENR Management Area

●DENR says the contamination in Butuanon River already reached an alarming state caused by highly polluted industrial and domestic wastes.

Few days from now, the government is expected to enforce moves to restore the good quality of water in the 23-kilometer-long Butuanon River which traverses along the boundary of Cebu and Mandaue City.

This after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has included the Butuanon River in the list of water quality management area.

This means that the environment agency will strictly enforce applicable laws, particularly the Clean Water Act, in order to restore the safe water condition of the creek. When DENR Secretary Ramon Paje signed the administrative order designating the Butuanon River as water quality management area, it signifies that the DENR will intensify its efforts to revive the polluted stream.

Such move will restore the river, which starts from the mountains of Barangay Lusaran and neighboring barangays of Cebu City down to Barangay Pacnaan and other adjacent barangays in Mandaue City.

The DENR said the present condition of Butuanon River is already considered as a “highly contaminated water body” due to the development and industrialization. Its riverbank areas downstream are occupied by informal settlers that mainly contribute to water pollution, DENR said.

“The urgency to maintain an acceptable water quality in the Butuanon River is of utmost important to both the national and local governments because it is essential to public health and livelihood of the people of Cebu and Mandaue Cities,” Paje said.

After the Butuanon River has been place under the 19 water quality management areas, the watercourse will be placed under close monitoring to ensure that its water quality complies with the standards set forth under the Clean Water Act.

In 2002, the DENR classified the Butuanon River as Class “D” or a water body that can be used for agriculture, irrigation, livestock and industrial. But last year, a monitoring operation conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), showed that the river’s average biochemical oxygen demand value (BODV) has exceeded the standard for Class “D,” and its average dissolved oxygen fell below the standard set for such classification.

The EMB also noted that there was an increasing trend of total and fecal coliform, a bacteria that indicates presence of sewage contamination, in all throughout the sampling stations of the river.

The agency added that the contamination in Butuanon River already reached an alarming state caused by highly polluted industrial and domestic wastes.

Paje’s administrative order tasked the local DENR officials to create a governing board which will be chaired the regional director of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) with members that include the mayor and governor and representatives from other government agencies and private sectors.

The governing board will serve as a planning, monitoring and coordinating body that will review the water quality management area action plan prepared by the EMB.

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