By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga 

A P15 million fund has been allocated by the Negros Occidental provincial government to prepare for the effects of the El Niño phenomenon in the province.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the fund will be utilized for new technologies to maximize the province’s water resources.

“We want to maximize the water resources, with focus on land areas that are irrigated,” Lacson said.

He added that he does not want to opt to dig wells in areas that are not irrigated.

Instead, Lacson said they will use run off or surface water to irrigate crops.

The governor also appealed to Negrenses to minimize water wastage during El Niño.

“We are researching some technology on how to dam water,” he said.

The P15 million budget was earlier proposed by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, but it was initially put on hold as the provincial government asked for a more detailed plan for its use.

Local government units in Western Visayas were earlier told by the Department of Agriculture to form their respective El Niño task forces to help mitigate calamities related to the dry conditions.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration declared the onset of El Niño, a weather phenomenon wherein the ocean’s surface temperature becomes warm which results in less rainfall, is expected until the first half of 2024./DGB, WDJ