THE UNIVERSITY of the Philippines Visayas recently partnered with the local government of Iloilo City on a project to improve the flood preparedness of the city.

The UP Visayas team which includes Jessica Dator-Bercilla, faculty member of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, wanted the local government to extract lessons from the International Development Research Center-backed Coastal Cities at Risk Philippine studies that could improve the flood preparedness of Iloilo City.

UP Visayas Chancellor Clement Camposano led the presentation of the meta-analysis of extreme flooding studies in the country to Mayor Jerry Treñas and other city officials.

One of the key recommendations was to review the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Experts told local government officials that the city’s geological features and its relationship to Tigum Aganan, Jaro, Iloilo, and Jalaur River should be taken into consideration.

The experts said the city is a low-elevation coastal zone whose bodies of water and waterways disappeared after being reclaimed and developed.

Since Iloilo City is a type of an alluvial fan that captures waters from mountains of towns in Iloilo, experts also reminded officials that there must be a mechanism for water run-offs for infiltration excess and saturation excess.