BAGUIO CITY – The construction of small water impounding dams in the different parts of the Cordillera has helped mitigate the severe effects of the onslaught of the El Niño phenomenon to the agricultural crops in the region over the past two decades.

This was the finding of Philippine scientists who are tracking the impact of El Niño on the country’s food and energy security.

The Philippine Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) noted the significant increase in the damage brought by the drought to agricultural crops in the different parts of the country over the past two decades. For Cordillera, it registered low damage reports because of the reported abundance of water from the existing water sources like the small water impounding projects located in strategic portions of the major river systems.

Small dams along the major river systems are constructed by concerned government agencies to ensure the continuous supply of irrigation water for the lucrative agricultural farms not only in the hinterlands but also in vast agricultural lands in the lowland communities.

From 2008-2009, the national government invested over P35 million for the construction of seven additional small water impounding projects in the different parts of the region after the cost of each project increased to P5 million each. Previous small water dams have a project cost of P2 million each prior to the global financial crisis that affected most parts of the global village.

Aside from the structure to be constructed, the Department of Agriculture (DA) now requires small water impounding dams must have at least a significant watershed area as its component to ensure the continuous supply of water for the farms even during the prevalence of the prolonged dry spell.

Under the requirements of the projects, the watershed area is supposed to be protected by the community to sustain stream flow even during the dry season which is in accordance to the relentless effort of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera to preserve and protect the watersheds and forests in the region for abundant water supply to strengthen the growth of the agriculture sector.

The small water dams allow farmers to have two croppings each year instead of one to ensure that the region will be able to be food self-sufficient for the benefit of the future generation of Filipinos.

However, agriculture officials admitted the implementation of small water dams in the region could not satisfy the needs of the thousands of farmers in the whole cordillera, especially during the prevalence of prolonged dry spell but it could be instrumental in sustaining agricultural production to meet the increasing demands of the people for rice, corn and high value crops.

The DA-CAR pointed out the quest for improved agricultural production is anchored on the state of the environment in the region, thus, one of the major thrusts of the national and local governments through the RDC-CAR is for the preservation and protection of the remaining watersheds and forests.