By ANGELINE VALENCIA

Korean consultants conducting the feasibility study and detailed design for the upgrading of Malinao Dam estimated the cost to reach almost P800 million to double its capacity.

Of the estimated cost of P788.199 million, the local counterpart is pegged at P103.30 million, while P684.898 million will be accessed through loan from Korea using EDCF.

Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) funded the conduct of the feasibility study and detailed design by Korea Water Resources Corporation (Kwater) and Dohwa Consulting and Engineering Corporation (Dohwa Co.).

Kwater Manager Chun Gun Il explained this in the final report on the Feasibility Study and Detailed Design he presented to Governor Erico Aumentado and National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Regional Manager Modesto Membreve on April 29 in Flamingo 2 at Bohol Tropics Resort.

Also present during the presentation of the report were Kwater Project Manager Kim Yungjin, Kwater Civil Engineer park Yeong Man, KOICA Program Officer Francis Afable, and Dohwa vice-president Yun Yong Jin.

Aumentado had also announced that South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Joong-Kyung Choi will be here on May 20 for the final presentation of the feasibility study and detailed engineering design on the upgrading of Malinao Dam.

The governor also said he will submit a copy of the report to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during a meeting on May 12, since the project has been considered to be included in the agenda of the bilateral summit with South Korea President Lee Myung-Bak which on the 60th anniversary of the Philippines-South Korea bilateral relationship and cooperation on May 30 and 31.

He said he expects NEDA-ICC Technical Board to approve the proposed Malinao Dam upgrading project before President Arroyo will go to South Korea.

Aumentado said he will really push for the inclusion of a theme park and mini-hydro power facilities, like those in the various dams that he saw in Korea during the one-week training on water resources he attended recently.

He said the Malinao Dam improvement can facilitate boost on the eco-cultural and agri-tourism factors of the project.

The upgrading will improve the capacity of Malinao Dam from the present 5.99 million cubic meters- -5 million cubic meters from its active reservoir and 0.99 million cubic meters from its dead reservoir, to a total of 9.1 million cubic meters- -8.11 from the active and 0.99 from the dead reservoir.

The improvement will make Malinao Dam capable of reaching additional 920 hectares.

This way, Kim said the Malinao Dam will be instrumental in increasing and stabilizing the farmer’s income by 70 percent and “satisfy the food consumption demand in Bohol”.

Aumentado updated the Korean consultants on Bohol’s recent accomplishment in achieving self-sufficiency in rice production that has reached 113 percent for the first time in the province with the provincial government’s subsidy on procurement of seedlings for the farmers and the recent completion of Bayongan Dam.

Bohol has existing irrigation systems under Bohol Irrigation Project (BHIP) phase I and II. Phase I covers the Malinao System finished in 1997 and Japanese grant-funded Capayas System in 1991, and phase II that covers the Bayongan System finished in 2008.

However, these could hardly provide sufficient irrigation water to Malinao Dam, because financial constraints and land disputes left some areas undeveloped, lack of irrigation facilities like farm ditch, and left leveling works in some areas unfinished.

On this, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the provincial government requested for BHIP phase III which will cover the upgrading of Malinao Dam through a loan using EDCF of Korea.

The governor explained that the improvement of Malinao Dam will trigger a series of communal irrigation systems.

BHIP I irrigates 4,960 hectares and BHIP II irrigates 5,400 hectares of ricefields in Pilar, Alicia, Ubay, Trinidad. San Miguel, and Dagohoy.

The proposed improvement includes a small hydro power plant at the outlet end of Malinao Dam and diversion chute between Malinao and Bayongan dams that would enhance the efficiency of water resource utilization.

This gives an opportunity to include the rehabilitation of Pamacsalan watershed, the governor said.

On the assessment of its generation facility capacity and annual power generation, Location 1 will have plant discharge of three cubic meters per second, rated head of 8.9 meters, facility capacity of 220 KW, and annual power generation of 1.9 GWh, while Location 2 will have plant discharge of 1.9 cubic meters per second, rated head of 81.7 meters, facility capacity of 1,310 KW, and annual power generation of 11.5 GWh.

Kwater also included details on environmental improvement component that involves trails and garden on the dam crest by the intake tower, parking lot by the reservoir area, and an observatory, forestation at the back of the dam, park and sports facilities, and an ecological park.

However, Kwater’s estimated cost of the improvement project excludes the environmental improvement.

The 12-month feasibility study and preparation of detailed design, that Kwater and Dohwa Co. conducted since May 28 last year, included field survey- -surveying, construction material sources, environmental impact assessment; feasibility study- -hydrology analysis, water supply plan, optimal development plan, safety assessment on existing facilities, etc; detailed design- -construction facilities, dam and spillway, etc.; preparation of bidding documents; and training of managers and engineers in Korea.

The Korean consultants’ safety diagnosis for each structure showed plastic deformation at the national road of dam at the right side that requires re-pavement and drainage ditch.

The consultants also estimated that “the existing structures can still be used after raising works according to the field tests”

On the irrigation area improvement plan, the consultants proposed to have a systematic management on the dam and data gathering; removal of sediments and bank maintenance at the main and lateral canals; and readjustment of farmlands.

Kwater and Dohwa Co. also recommended leadership training, financial management training, financial support for regular meetings, workshops, and field observation tour in the agri-institutional capability development component.

They also recommended post-harvest facilities to increase the farmers’ income.

Improving the landscape architecture, the consultants suggested the removal of the existing pergola and to replace it with a new pergola after the completion of the dock site improvement, and that the existing commemorative structure at the dam crest be removed and replaced with a new structure after dam improvement. (Angeline Valencia/PGMA)