LIMITED BENEFITS: Jalaur Dam may ease El Niño impact on select farms

ILOILO CITY — The Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) in Calinog, Iloilo, may help ease the effects of El Niño by supplying additional irrigation water to select farming areas, the National Irrigation Administration 6 (NIA-6) said.

The additional supply could reach parts of the project’s service area in Calinog and the Jalaur River Irrigation System (Jalaur RIS), which draws water from the Moroboro Dam in Dingle.

NIA-6 said the benefits would remain limited because the irrigation component of the project is still under construction.

Steve Cordero, division manager of NIA-6’s Institutional Development Division, said the agency can make irrigation water available to about 500 hectares in Calinog.

Farmers in areas with completed canals could continue cultivating their land during the dry season.

“We have 500 hectares of service areas as of this year in Calinog. In the impact of El Niño next year, particularly the second cropping in the dry season, we can release water to these farmlands,” Cordero said in an interview on Tuesday.

He said farmers in these areas could benefit from the available supply because the irrigation canals serving them had already been completed.

“It is still very minimal because these are the only areas where we have completed irrigation facilities,” Cordero said.

The service areas in Calinog include Barangays Aglibacao, Badu, and Lonoy.

In October 2025, 149 members of the Agbato Calinog Irrigators Association Inc. began planting their third rice crop within a single agricultural cycle, made possible by the project’s partial irrigation operations.

The farmers cultivated 139 hectares under Zone 1 Main Canal 2, one of the areas within the initial 500 hectares served by the irrigation system, while the dam and canal network remained under construction.

The third cropping was a milestone for the farmers, who used water delivered through the partially operational JRMP II.

Water augmentation for Moroboro Dam

Beyond Calinog, water stored in the Jalaur high dam may also supplement the supply of the Jalaur RIS.

Cordero explained that the high dam is located upstream along the Jalaur River, so water released downstream is captured by the Moroboro Dam and distributed to irrigation areas in central Iloilo.

He said NIA used this arrangement during the 2026 dry season, releasing water from the Jalaur high dam that the Moroboro Dam received to help farmers during the summer months.

“That is also one way of making sure that we can feel the benefits of the projects while it is not yet fully operational,” he said.

The Moroboro Dam supplies irrigation water to agricultural lands in Dingle, Pototan, Zarraga, Dumangas, and Barotac Nuevo.

Cordero said water augmentation from the Jalaur high dam could benefit portions of the Jalaur RIS service area, which covers an estimated 10,000 hectares.

However, he stressed that the additional supply would not be enough to meet the needs of all farms covered by the irrigation system.

“We can only provide augmentation; we cannot provide sufficient water where all service areas can be given water,” he said.

Construction status

The high dam currently stores 146 million cubic meters of water.

As of September 2026, the overall physical accomplishment of the JRMP II had reached 87.92%.

Cordero said the irrigation component was about 50% complete, including works on the high-level canals and the main and lateral canal networks.

The project, valued at PHP 19.698 billion, includes a 109-meter high dam, a 38-meter afterbay dam on the Jalaur River, and a catch dam on the Alibunan River, according to NIA.

Once completed, it is expected to provide year-round irrigation to 9,500 hectares of new irrigable areas and rehabilitate 22,340 hectares of existing service areas in Iloilo, NIA said.

Cordero identified unfavorable weather conditions as one of the major challenges facing NIA and its contractors in completing the irrigation infrastructure.

Although some areas experience hot weather, other sections of the project site continue to receive rain, hampering earthworks and concrete construction.

Some work areas also remain waterlogged for several days following rainfall, delaying construction activities.

“Sometimes it takes three days for us to remove the water from these areas,” Cordero said.