Lomibao, a retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, was here recently to launch a pilot housing project for National Irrigation Administration (NIA) employees. He also awarded certificates for lots at the proposed Ginandusan subdivision here.

During the awarding rites, Lomibao was assisted by NIA-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS) Operations Manager Antonio Nangel, NIA District 4 chief Marcelino Santos, and Antonio Reyes, president of the NIA Employees Association of the Philippines (NIAEASP).

Miguel San Gabriel, NIAEASP District 4 president, said the housing project involves the development of 127 lots at a 3.5-hectare NIA property at Ginandusan at a cost of P220 per square meter.

In July last year, then NIA Administrator Baltazar Usis announced that the California Energy Casecnan Inc. (CECI), builder of the $ 600-million component of the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP), forged a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and NIA for the development of BRMP.

CECI is an intenational leader in the development and production of energy from various fuel sources which include geothermal, natural gas and hydroelectric.

Nangel said BRMP is covered by a feasibility study projecting to irrigate 18,800 hectares of farm lands in the eastern section of Central Luzon, particularly at the tri-boundaries of Neuva Eciaj, Bulacan, and Pampanga.

The original feasibility study was conducted in the early 80s, and CECI offered to undertake a new feasibility study to suit the prevailing conditions.

Under a plan, a 140-meter-high rockfill central core dam with a catchment area of 228 square meters is to be built in Gapan City.

Its reservoir will have a storage capacity of up to 572 million cubic meters of water. It could irrigate 18,800 hectares, tapping the water of the Sumacbao River.

The river is one of the main branches of the Peñaranda River — which is a tributary of the Pampanga River.

The BRMP has a service area of 63,000 hectares covering the towns of Cabiao, General Tinio, Peñaranda, San Isidro and Sta. Rosa and the cities of Cabanatuan and Gapan in Nueva Ecija; San Miguel, San Ildefonso and San Rafael in Bulacan; and Arayat, Pampanga.

Aside from the dam, a powerhouse equipped with two 22-megawatt Frances turbines, a 710-meter long concrete tunnel discharging 1,430 cubic meters of water per second and a 140-meter-long diversion wire are to be built to provide hydroelectric power to nearby areas.