﻿ix. d. 2 Christie: Irrigation in Ilocos Norte 101 



is drawn from the Gisit River, a tributary of the Laoag. The 

 most important canal is provided with a masonry headgate 

 and wasteway, and shows good maintenance. This canal irri- 

 gates some 800 hectares. 



Dingras has a good deal of land under irrigation, but lacks 

 proper provisions for the control and distribution of water. 



Batac has canals and other irrigation works. The Kiawit 

 River runs in an artificial channel which is said to have been 

 made for it as far back as 1760, under the direction of the Filipino 

 after whom it is named. In course of time, however, the bed 

 of this stream has become badly eroded, resulting in an inconven- 

 ient lowering of the water below the fields which it was 

 intended to irrigate. The water, both of this and other irriga- 

 tion works, is far from sufficient for the needs of the land 

 under present arrangements. It is worth noting that many 

 ditches in this municipality are provided with masonry diversion 

 weirs and headgates, with proper provision for varying the 

 openings. 



Paoay has several old ditches in poor condition which are 

 inadequately supplied with water. 



Badoc, the southernmost town of the province, has nearly 

 4,000 hectares of irrigated land. On the high land which 

 cannot be reached by canals, extensive masonry walls have been 

 constructed to catch the flood water and distribute it over areas 

 devoted to raising rice. Most of the ditches are small, and 

 belong to individual landowners. 



The Badoc River runs through the municipality. Water is 

 diverted from this stream by low temporary dams of bamboo 

 and rock, which may last one or several seasons. The ditches 

 are well constructed, and show good maintenance. Masonry 

 headgates, checks, and other necessary structures have been 

 provided on most of the systems, and largely eliminate the 

 bad waste noticeable in other municipalities of the province. 

 The longest ditch is about 2 kilometers in length. Most of the 

 land irrigated is watered only during the wet or rice-growing 

 season. 



Irrigation works in the municipalities of Bacarra and Bintar, 

 watered from the Bacarra or Bubuisan River, deserve special 

 mention, for they exemplify the fullest development of irriga- 

 tion practice to be found in the province. They cover some 

 7,000 hectares of land, most of which is supplied with water 

 all the year, and thus is enabled to raise two or three crops 

 a year. 



Practically all the water used for irrigation in these towns 



