The PHP1-billion Hibulangan Small Reservoir Irrigation Project in Villaba, Leyte will be operational in 2025 after more than a decade of construction, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said Tuesday.

NIA Leyte and Biliran irrigation management office manager Conrado Samson said during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas press briefing they are on the final stages of the project before its inauguration next year.

“We are waiting for good weather and clearance for plugging. We are also preparing our farmers for the full operation of the project,” Samson said.

Plugging reduces the water-holding capacity and drainage rate of soil.

He admitted that unfavorable weather in most times of the year caused the delay of the project that started in 2013.

Also contributing to the delay was the unavailability of funds, disruption caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda and the Covid-19 pandemic movement restrictions.

The project involved the construction of a 35.5-meter earth-filled dam with storage capacity of about 10.8 million cubic meters of water.

It is designed to irrigate the 2,750 hectares of rice farms in the towns of Villaba, Matagob and Matalom, which are known as the rice-producing areas in Leyte.

The reservoir is located in Sulpa village in Villaba town. A network of irrigation canals will carry water to farmlands in Hibulangan, Bugabuga, Tumamak, Sta. Cruz and Capinahan villages, all in Villaba town. Service roads were built on the banks of the canals.

The project was also one of the priority irrigation projects under the Regional Development Plan that was deemed vital to the region’s economic expansion. (PNA)