December 1, 2022 – The National Irrigation Administration Region VI celebrated, through a simple program, the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of Sta. Barbara River Irrigation System (RIS).
Sta. Barbara River Irrigation System, where its dam is located in Brgy. Tungay, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo is considered the oldest irrigation system outside of Luzon.
The program titled Celebration and Thanksgiving of the Sta. Barbara River Irrigation System’s 100th Year of Service, was attended by NIA Region VI officials headed by its Regional Manager Engr. Rory F. Avance and Division Manager of Iloilo-Guimaras Irrigation Management Office Division Manager Engr. Randy C. Alipis.
Hon. Dennis S. Superficial, Municipal Mayor of Sta. Barbara also graced the event. In his speech, he recognized the importance of irrigation in agriculture and expressed Sta. Barbara’s mission to improve the agricultural sector of the municipality.
The members of the Irrigators Associations of Sta. Barbara RIS (PALACATIAN IA, LACAGBUN IA, LACASAN IA, and CABUGLASAN IA) was also present at the event headed by its Federation President, Mr. Alexander Robles.
The program started with a Holy Mass at the dam site followed by a short program that included the unveiling of a marker that details important historical information about the irrigation system.
The construction of the project started in 1919 under the then Bureau of Public Works and cost USD380,000.00 undertaken by the Atlantic Gulf and Pacific (AG&P) Company owned by businessmen John McMullen and Herman Krusi.
Wallace Johnson Lamon supervised the construction, which was completed in June 1922. The project was officially opened and inaugurated on December 1, 1922 and started irrigating 4,985 hectares of service area serving 733 landowners.
The system was later rehabilitated under the National Irrigation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (NISRIP), which started on November 15, 2015 and was completed on June 13, 2018. The project amounted to Php133.85 million, which was funded through a grant from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Currently, Sta. Barbara RIS serves 3, 438 hectares of farmlands serving 1,313 farmer-beneficiaries of the municipalities of Sta. Barbara, Leganes, Pavia, and Jaro of Iloilo City.
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