Cebu City asked to enforce Water Conservation Ordinance

Local

A 20-YEAR-old Cebu City ordinance designed to regulate rainwater runoff and help reduce flooding is facing fresh calls for enforcement.

Former councilor and lawyer Jocelyn Pesquera is calling for its stricter enforcement amid the city’s recurring floods.

In a letter to Mayor Nestor Archival and members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, Pesquera said City Ordinance No. 2103, or the Water Conservation Ordinance, already provides measures that could help address flooding and water security.

Pesquera, who co-authored the ordinance with Archival during his tenure as councilor, urged the city government to revive and strengthen its implementation rather than create new regulations.

The ordinance requires building owners of commercial, industrial, institutional and residential projects to incorporate rainwater tanks, reservoirs and cisterns into their plans and designs, according to Pesquera’s letter.

It also provides for a rainwater detention program intended to control increases in runoff and reduce risks associated with flooding, erosion and siltation.

Pesquera said the ordinance was crafted in response to the city’s growing dependence on groundwater, the threat of saltwater intrusion and the increasing runoff caused by urban development and paved surfaces.

She argued that stricter implementation could have prevented or reduced flooding in the city.

“Had it been that the Cebu City Government, through the Office of the Building Official (OBO), Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) and the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO), strictly implemented the ordinance, flooding may have been prevented, if not reduced,” Pesquera said in her letter.

She said the city’s flooding problem has instead worsened since the ordinance was passed.

Pesquera acknowledged that enforcement of the ordinance would not, by itself, solve the city’s flooding problem.

She proposed combining it with drainage cleanups and strategic tree planting.

Pesquera asked Archival to direct the OBO to inspect buildings, including residential structures, to determine whether they have the required rainwater tanks, reservoirs, or cisterns and whether runoff is being discharged from their properties.

She also called for the CPDO and the Department of Welfare and Urban Poor to inspect subdivisions for similar rainwater facilities and measures to prevent runoff from leaving their developments.

Beyond private developments, Pesquera urged the city government to build regional rainwater detention facilities in flood-prone areas.

She identified Guadalajara in Barangay Guadalupe; Villa Teresita in Barangay Tisa; the Sto. Niño Community and Sitio Cacao in Barangay Kinasang-an; Nasipit in Barangay Talamban; Lower Sindulan in Barangay Mabolo; Sikatuna Street/Bonifacio Street in Barangay Pari-an; and Back Rubber in Barangay Basak San Nicolas.

She also asked the City Assessor’s Office to identify vacant public or private lots that could be suitable sites for the proposed detention ponds.

Pesquera said the city already has ordinances and regulations that can be used to address flooding, but stressed that the concerned offices must ensure their implementation.

She urged the city government to act before another rainy season brings further flooding, property damage, and loss of life.(TGP)