Hotels, Golf Clubs Urged To Conserve Water Amid Dry Spell

As water scarcity continues to threaten Cebu due to the dry spell brought by El Niño, hotels, resorts and golf clubs are urged to initiate measures in the judicious use of water.

PAGASA-Visayas Chief Oscar Tabada warned the public the coming weeks would be much hotter and more humid resulting to a rise in heat temperature that would aggravate the province’s declining water supply sources.

The El Niño is forecasted to peak by May.

“Cebu has a rainwater deficit between 21 to 60 percent (as of March). Drought is expected to occur in April to May with rainwater deficit of over 60 percent,” said Tabada.

Water conservation is a must today that must be adopted by every individual, said Tabada.

Tabada, however, specifically called on establishments that heavily use water like hotels, resorts, and golf clubs to initiate conservation measures so as not put water to waste, which is now becoming a limited supply.

PAGASA-Visayas chief said the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) could talk to the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu to do some action on managing water use by guests.

“These establishments could put up signage on ‘use water wisely,’” said Tabada while golf clubs could also cut down on watering the golf course.

Tabada said the issue of water shortage is not the problem of the water districts alone or the government. “We need to act and address the problem cohesively,” he said.

Last Friday night, Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama declared the city under a “State of Emergency,” due to El Niño as almost all of the city’s 80 barangays experience insufficient water supply.

Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) reported their two surface water resources, Buhisan Dam and the Jaclupan Dam have dried up affecting 44 areas in the cities of Cebu, Lapulapu and Talisay as well as the town of Liloan.

These areas experienced low water pressure or no water supply for 15 hours.

“The Buhisan Dam already yielded zero output since the first week of March,” said Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara, public affairs department head of MCWD. (rmn/fcr/PIA-7)