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Lake
Fisheries
The
lake's most dominant use is on fisheries. It is estimated that the
lake yielded 37,000 to 47,000 MT (metric tons) of fish in 1997 to
2000 - both from the fishpens and open fisheries. Crustaceans and
mollusks declined in yield from 1,927 to 574 MT and from 101,101
to 85,363 MT respectively, during the same period. With the
introduction of the fishpen culture technology in 1970, the boom
in lake fishery production also led to social conflicts in the
region. Large-scale fishpens have threatened the economic
conditions of fishermen dependent upon open water fishery. To
address the issue, a revised
Lake
Fishery Zoning and Management Plan
was implemented in 1996. |
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Transport
Route
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LLDA
set navigational routes for lake travelers and users
to avoid conflicts with fish cultivators, fishpen
owners, and free-range fishermen. More than 5,000
motorized and non-motorized watercraft operate as a
means of transportation for lakeshore communities.
In addition, there are 23 barges plying the lake to
transport an average of 75,640 barrels of oil and
oil products to various supply depots daily.
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Board Resolution no. 66 of 1998 approved the
navigational routes for the ferry system in the
Laguna de Bay.
The
following are the traffic lanes for ferry vessels
which starts from Pasig River to Sta. Cruz, Laguna:
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a.
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Primary
Lane- a 500 meter wide route going to Los Baņos,
and Pagsanjan, Laguna
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b.
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Secondary
Lane-a 400 meter wide route provides access to
other municipalities around the lake including
Talim Island
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c.
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Tertiary
Lane-a 200 meter wide route which lead to the
existing landing areas in the municipalities.
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Flood
Water Reservoir
The
lake also serves as a reservoir for floodwater to save Metro
Manila from flooding. The Manggahan Floodway was constructed to
divert floodwaters from Marikina River into the lake. The Napindan
control station regulates the outflow of excess lake waters and
minimizes the inflow of saline water and pollution from the Pasig
River. |
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Power
Generation
Laguna
de Bay is also used for power generation; three power plants are
located in the region. A pump storage hydroelectric power
station is operated in Kalayaan, Laguna. Water is pumped up
to the Caliraya Reservoir to generate about 300 megawatts of
electricity. Efforts are underway to increase this capacity
to 600 megawatts.
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Recreation
Laguna
de Bay is also known for recreational activities. Although classified
only for non contact recreation such as fishing, boating and sailing,
the lake is used for swimming in some communities. Lakeshore resorts
near Mt. Makiling extract hot spring waters for health spa and beauty
treatment. LLDA also ventures on eco-tourism projects through
the
LISCOP
Component 1 Project.
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Irrigation
Laguna
de Bay also provides sufficient water for farm lands of the lake
region. Studies are being done to further improve the use of lake
water for agriculture.
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Industrial
Cooling
The
lake is also being used as a source of industrial cooling water. Major
users include the National Power Corporation for the Kalayaan
Hydropower Plant and the Philippine Petroleum Corporation Refinery in
Pililla, Rizal. KEPHILCO-Malaya Power plant also draws water from the
lake for cooling. Cooling water is recycled back into the lake
resulting in thermal pollution of about 20C rise in temperature near
the discharge points. |
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Waste
Sink
The
lake also serves as a huge waste sink for solid and liquid waste
coming from households, cropland areas, industries, livestock and
poultry production as well as fishery activities. Because not a
single municipality is equipped with a sewerage system, pollution
is carried as surface run-off through the sub-basins of the lake.
In addition, polluted waters from the Marikina and Pasig Rivers
also flow into the lake.
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