The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) on Wednesday announced that a big-ticket irrigation project to provide a year-round supply of water to farmers in the northern part of Luzon is now on the pipeline.

NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen said the Ilocos Norte-Ilocos Sur-Abra Irrigation Project (INISAIP), approximately worth PHP25.7 billion, is expected to irrigate more than 14,000 hectares of farmlands in the three provinces once completed.

“The project was conceived during the time of the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos and said project is now on the go under the current administration,” Guillen said in a media interview.

As of this posting, assigned NIA personnel were in the process of securing all pertinent documents being required by the National Economic Development Authority for the final take-off of the big-ticket irrigation project in this part of Luzon.

The construction of access roads leading to the 126.41-meter high storage dam across the Palsiguan River in Lagayan, Abra has already commenced while right-of-way personnel of the NIA started to make a dialogue with the owners of the traversed lots of INISAIP.

With a looming water crisis that is likely to cause a significant impact on farmers, Guillen said he is optimistic that the NIA, in close coordination, with the departments of public works and agriculture, as well as other concerned government agencies, would be able to address the issues by constructing high dams that will not only be used for irrigation but also for power, flood control, and aquaculture projects.

Over the years, Ilocos farmers, particularly in the second district of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, have been experiencing water shortages to irrigate their farmlands due to lack of irrigation facilities. (PNA)