Kaliwa Dam

Also known as: Kaliwa Low Dam · New Centennial Water Source–Kaliwa Dam Project

Definition

The Kaliwa Dam is a proposed concrete dam on the Kaliwa River in the Sierra Madre mountains of Rizal and Quezon provinces, designed to augment the water supply of Metro Manila and its surrounding provinces under the New Centennial Water Source Project. Planned as a 60-plus-meter structure financed largely through Chinese official development assistance, the project has become one of the country’s most contested infrastructure undertakings because of its projected impacts on indigenous communities and the Sierra Madre environment. (Wikipedia — Kaliwa Low Dam, Wikipedia — Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System)

Identities

Source Type	Identity
Wikipedia	Kaliwa Low Dam
Wikidata	Kaliwa Low Dam (Q18391933)
DBpedia	N/A
ProductOntology	N/A
Wiktionary	N/A
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)	N/A
MeSH	N/A
NCBI Taxonomy	N/A
AGROVOC	N/A
Google Scholar	Kaliwa Dam New Centennial Water Source Project Metro Manila water supply Sierra Madre
ConceptNet	N/A
OpenCyc	N/A

Also Known As

Kaliwa Low Dam
New Centennial Water Source–Kaliwa Dam Project

Examples and Analogies

Supply analog: The Kaliwa Dam is meant to do for eastern Metro Manila what Angat Dam does for the bulk of the metropolis — provide a second major raw-water source so a single reservoir failure cannot paralyze the capital.
Contested-project analog: Like the Chico River Dam protests of the Marcos era, the project pits metropolitan water security against the land rights and environment of indigenous communities upstream.

Usage Scenarios

1. Metro Manila Water Security

The dam would add several hundred million liters of daily raw water supply to reduce the capital’s dependence on the aging Umiray-Angat system during droughts and El Niño cycles.

2. Hydropower and Flow Regulation

Regulated releases from the reservoir would stabilize river flows and potentially support small hydropower generation.

3. Concession Water Infrastructure

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System would treat and distribute the additional supply through Manila Water and Maynilad concession networks.

Strategies

Pair dam construction with aggressive non-revenue water reduction so new supply is not lost to leaking pipes
Implement genuine free, prior, and informed consent processes with affected Dumagat-Remontado communities
Establish independent environmental monitoring of Sierra Madre catchments during and after construction

Security and Safety Measures

Dam design must satisfy Philippine earthquake engineering standards given the proximity of the Sierra Madre fault system to the site
Emergency action plans, including siren systems and evacuation routes, are required for downstream communities along the Kaliwa and Agos rivers
Catchment protection and reforestation guard the reservoir’s sedimentation and water quality over its operating life

Historical Context

The Kaliwa Dam concept emerged from studies dating back to the 1970s seeking new water sources east of Metro Manila as the Angat system approached its limits. The project was revived under the Build Build Build program of the late 2010s, with a Chinese government loan financing the China Energy Engineering Group as contractor. Groundbreaking came in the early 2020s after years of permitting battles, just as the country debated the wider costs and conditions of Chinese infrastructure lending. The dam remains the emblem of the capital’s water future and of the trade-offs between urban supply and upland community rights.

Challenges and Controversies

Indigenous Displacement

Dumagat-Remontado communities in General Nakar and Infanta, Quezon, face resettlement from ancestral lands, and advocates argue their free, prior, and informed consent was never adequately obtained.

Environmental and Seismic Risks

Environmentalists warn that inundating Sierra Madre forests in a typhoon belt, on a site near active faults, threatens biodiversity and downstream towns, criticisms sharpened by the award process that bypassed open competitive bidding in favor of Chinese financing terms.