TACLOBAN CITY – The town of Palo in Leyte will be the first area in the country to implement a flood mitigation project using a floodwater collection technology from South Korea.
Department of Science of Technology (DOST) 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director John Glenn Ocaña said the P28 million Rainfall and Stormwater Runoff Management Technology for Tropical Catchment (RainS-TECH) project funded by their agency is ongoing and will be completed by 2026.
“The three-year project aims to develop innovative systems, practices, technologies, and techniques that utilize and mimic the natural processes for the management of rainfall and stormwater runoff in pre-developed to post-developed tropical watersheds,” Ocaña said in an interview on Friday.
RainS-TECH, benchmarked in South Korea and piloted in Palo, adjacent to Tacloban City, is up for replication in other flood-prone, populated communities across the country.
The major component is the construction of infiltration trenches in the town center and Baras village.
Infiltration trenches are linear ditches that collect rainwater from adjacent surfaces. Their highly permeable soils allow the water to quickly seep into the ground.
“Due to development activities, the natural filtration is very limited and triggers flooding. The technology will bring the floodwater back to the ground and help recharge the water table,” Ocaña added.
The project will also install a rainwater harvesting system at the Palo municipal hall building.
Prof. Marla Maniquiz-Redillas, a department of civil engineering professor at De La Salle University in Manila, led the implementation of the project.
Redillas proposed the project after their team’s recent study of the flooding problem in Palo town.
This initiative is in partnership with the local government unit of Palo, provincial government of Leyte, DOST, Eastern Visayas State University, Philippine Science High School – Eastern Visayas Campus, National Irrigation Administration, Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the state weather bureau PAGASA.
Officials from partner agencies signed a memorandum of agreement on June 28, 2024. (PNA)
