Residents of Sitio Tac-an line up to receive potable water during a City Hall water distribution caravan in Barangay Budlaan. (CDN PHOTO/JULIT JAINAR)
Moderate rain was experienced in some areas in Cebu City due to cloud-seeding operations done by the state weather bureau Pagasa yesterday.
Pagasa Visayas Director Oscar Tabada said they planned to conduct cloud-seeding first in Bohol province which was severely affected by the drought but they didn’t find any “seedable” clouds so they did it in Cebu instead.
“Anytime we do cloud seeding if there are seedable clouds. With the use of our radar, we can see by satellite which clouds we can seed,” he said.
Tabada said the pilot was given coordinates where the dams were located.
He said there will be two weeks of cloud-seeding operations that will be funded by the Office of the President through Pagasa at P1.5 million.
“The cloud seeding was successful but it wasn’t enough,” Tabada said.
Charmaine Rodriguez-Kara, public affairs chief of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD), said they coordinated with Pagasa for the cloud seeding, but the rains had little effect in their water production.
“The rains didn’t add to our water catchment in Jaclupan. The rains hit the waters near the South Road Properties (SRP). It’s expected because cloud-seeding isn’t an accurate activity,” she said.
Cloud seeding involves dropping of crystalline substances like silver iodide or dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) into clouds to induce rain.
It is resorted to whenever water levels of irrigation facilities and dams run low. In Cebu City, City Hall led a water distribution caravan in Barangay Budlaan.
Seven pickup vehicles distributed 523 water-filled containers with a capacity of 20 liters each that were sourced from the excess production of Pilipinas Water Resources, Inc. (PWRI). Domestic water was sourced from the MCWD.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) said they are still waiting on their suppliers to deliver their items for the farmers.