Kaliwa Dam construction 22% complete —MWSS

Construction of the Kaliwa Dam project is now 22 percent complete, according to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

In a report by Lei Alviz on "24 Oras," at least 340 meters have been excavated at the tunnel outlet portal near the Sierra Madre mountain range in Teresa, Rizal.

“To prevent ‘yung pagguho ng na excavate nila na rock or kung may soil man, naglalagay kaagad tayo ng support so laging matibay ang ating tunnel hindi katulad ng traditional method,” Ryan Ayson, project manager of the New Centennial Water Source Kaliwa Dam Project, sai.

The tunneling is targeted for completion in mid-2026 and will be operational by 2027.

“We cannot afford to have a delay in this project. Ano yan eh, 22 kilometers so kailangang mahabang time ang kailangan. Sa dalawang component ng kaliwa Dam project, yung critical path niya is the tunneling,” MWSS administrator Leonor Cleofas said.

The water treatment plants of Maynilad and Manila Water, which will be built on the same site, will divide the water supplied by the dam reaching six hundred million liters per day.

The project will benefit around 20 million residents in Metro Manila, Bulacan, and parts of Cavite and Rizal, MWSS said.

However, several families living near the path of the construction need to be relocated, according to the MWSS. 

Groups opposing the project said it will damage 291 hectares of watershed, endanger 172 species of plants, disturb the habitat of animals and worsen the impact of climate change.

MWSS said the concerns raised by the oppositors have been addressed during the public hearings.

It said the construction was designed to ensure that communities near the dam site in General Nakar, Quezon will not be submerged.

"Sa lahat po ng project na merong environmental compliance certificate ang MWSS po as project proponent ay required na mag-put up ng environmental guarantee fund," Cleofas said.—Sherylin Untalan/LDF, GMA Integrated News