‘KEEP WATERWAYS CLEAR’: DENR-6: Strictly enforce easements in waterway projects to prevent flooding

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Infrastructure projects along waterways in Iloilo City must strictly observe landward easement requirements to reduce flooding risks and ensure natural water flow during heavy rains, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Presidential Decree 1067, or the Water Code, mandates easements along rivers, creeks, and shorelines: 3 meters in urban areas, 20 meters in agricultural areas, and 40 meters in forest areas, measured landward from the natural bank or highest water mark.

DENR-6 Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Armin Halili explained that an easement is a public-use zone where permanent structures are prohibited to allow floodwater overflow, prevent waterway obstruction, and enable maintenance.

“The landward easement is critical as a buffer zone to prevent flood damage, maintain waterway flow, and safeguard property and public safety,” Halili said.

He clarified that public-use projects such as bike lanes and esplanades may be built within easements provided they follow regulations.

“For bike lanes and esplanades, it should still follow the easement. There should be respect in the body of water because doing it the other way around will destroy the width or the capacity of the waterway,” he said.

Halili said DENR has yet to classify whether Buntatala Creek is a creek or an irrigation canal amid ongoing flood control projects in the area.

Stretching 4.8 kilometers, Buntatala Creek is a major waterway traversing Barangays Camalig, Balantang, Tagbac, Buntatala, and Lanit in Jaro district.

In Tagbac, Punong Barangay Mary Jane Jecara accused the Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO) of deviating from the original design of the bike lane and slope protection project along the creek.

She said ICDEO’s initial plan included bike lanes and slope protection on both sides of the creek, with embankments designed to preserve its six-meter width.

But she observed that only one side was being developed, with the bike lane embankment expanded to seven meters instead of the planned four.

Jecara said this has narrowed the creek and compromised its water flow.

She also noted that dredging exceeded one meter after a 14-year-old boy from Barangay Tabuc Suba drowned while swimming in Buntatala Creek on July 21.

Halili said DENR has completed about 60 to 70 percent of its collection of land titles along Buntatala Creek and will review Iloilo’s original cadastral survey of 1914 to determine the creek’s shape and segregation from private lots.

The agency will also conduct on-site surveys to map its connections with other waterways and finalize its classification.

Penalties for violating easement rules or obstructing waterways include fines, imprisonment, or both, depending on the offense’s severity.

If Buntatala Creek is determined to be an irrigation source, its management may fall under the National Irrigation Administration, which oversees irrigation systems nationwide.