By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Several times from June up to this month of September, parts of La Trinidad especially the Swamp area, Buyagan and Km 3 and 4 were flooded. Fortunately, they did not last long.
The mentioned areas are really flood-prone. I, myself, had waded through some of those floods before the national elections of 2022, and even before that. It may be a freak of nature, but the La Trinidad valley is a water catch basin. That is why, the Swamp area has been called as such since time immemorial.
In the early 1980’s concrete structures ballooned in the valley and surrounding hillsides , impeding downward flow of water. What happened is that more water flowed to Swamp at a faster rate, resulting to, yes, recurring flooding. This necessitated the widening of the Balili river near the bridge at Km 6. Other interventions were made such as concreting sides of the Bolo creek to move water faster towards the river.
Nobody was/were blamed for the occurrences of such inundations. It’s nature, they thought. So almost nobody cared.
Fast forward to today. President BBM started to wage a war against anomalous flood control projects; some are sub-standards, others are ineffective, still others are never completed (but nevertheless reported as completed) and many are either here nor there.
To facilitate matters, the office of the President opened a portal where people can make sumbong on-line about such anomalies.
Some became overeager. They flooded the mentioned portal with supposed irregularities not because they know firsthand what is happening or what had happened but is a fad to do it. Others took advantage of the situation to muddle things up so matters will not go as fast or simply to divert attention.
Fact is, some of those volunteering anomalies are non-residents of the area of concern for a considerable time already. They just use what was uploaded to support their baseless claim.
A case in point, if we are to believe what some are saying, is what happened in L.T. The sumbong was acted upon. That’s why Mayor Benjie Magalong of Baguio went to L.T. recently to see for himself what was complained about. The inspection was inconclusive, to say the least. No shenanigans there? Probably none!
So, some were wondering. “Why make a haphazard sumbong? We, ourselves in La Trinidad, could first discuss it and perhaps solve it, without unnecessarily putting a black mark on our dear municipality.” This seems sensible.
Of course, the flooding in L.T. could be mitigated. Some local officials are claiming to studying the situation for several months already so they could proffer a solution. Let’s give them a chance.
Some suggestions. First: The flooding in Km 3 and 4 seem to have been partly a result of the existing drainage canals being poorly maintained. One can easily see the various debris in parts of the canal where it has a see-through steel cover. It should be regularly cleaned of such debris so water can move to Balili river quicker.
Second: the big round culverts buried in the Swamped area to allow water to pass through appear to be counterproductive as it is probably a hindrance to a freer flow of water to the Bolo Creek and on to Balili river. They should be changed into an open canal.
Third: If possible, further widen the Balili river near the población bridge-downstream side, to allow faster movement of water.
Fourth: Study the possibility of diverting some Balili river water into impounding areas at least a km away from the downstream of the bridge. The impounded water could be for multipurpose uses.
Make water flow faster to Balili river!**
