The P585-million Can-asujan Small Reservoir Irrigation Project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, is located 40 kilometers away from Cebu City providing water to gravity-fed irrigation service area of 782 hectares (of rice and vegetable lands and resettlement area) . It also supplies Cebu City with potable water for its burgeoning population.
Prior to the dam’s construction in 2003, farmers were earning only P20,000 per crop for rice and P75,803 for vegetables. But with the dam’s operation, they are now reaping P35,200 for rice and P139,904 for vegetables, according to Carcar Mayor Patrick Barcenas.
Barcenas and Vice Mayor Roger Montesclaro led local barangay officials in discussing with Manila-based newsmen, who were toured to the ADB-funded projects in Cebu City recently, the benefits of the small reservoir for the residents of the hilly slopes by improving their farm productivity and providing other income options for them in the near future.
But foremost among their concerns is ensuring the dam’s sustainability by protecting and reforesting the watershed – its main source of water for now and future generations.
“We have obtained a P26-million budget from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for watershed management, particularly in replanting and conducting livelihood activities in the upstream, to preserve the area for illegal cutting,” Barcenas said.
The dam’s main source of water is the Can-asujan River, and Pondol River is the supplementary source. A 25-meter hard landfill dam and spillway were built in a narrow, steep-sided valley section of the Can-asujan River around seven km from the national highway going uphill. The reservoir has a capacity to impound 2.45 million cubic meters of water with approximately 32.85 hectares of land submerged but the residents in submerged areas were relocated to upper portions.
“Without adding new facilities to the area, people will visit us. What more if we put amenities for boating, rafting, small lodges and a lot of outdoor activities for local and foreign tourists to come here,” said Barcenas as he visualized its conversion into ecotourism within five years..
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