Marikina River

Marikina River (Ilog ng Marikina)
Marikina River in Pasig City
Country	Philippines
Regions	National Capital Region, CALABARZON
Cities	Marikina City, Quezon City, Pasig City
Source
- location	Rodriguez, Rizal, CALABARZON
Mouth	Pasig River
- location	Pasig City, National Capital Region
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	14°33′30″N 121°04′05″E / 14.55833°N 121.06806°E / 14.55833; 121.06806
Drainage map of the Pasig-Marikina River River system

Marikina River Park

The Marikina River (Tagalog: Ilog ng Marikina) is a main river system in Eastern Metro Manila, Philippines. It springs in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Rodriguez, Rizal, flowing to Pasig City where it becomes a major tributary of the Pasig River near Napindan Area.

Marikina River used to be an important transport route during Spanish era. However, due to negligence and industrial development, the river has become very polluted. Also, squatters nearby simply dumped their garbage at the river. In the late 1990s because of the dynamic transformation of Marikina City under Mayor Bayani Fernando the river has survived and now, one of the most important treasures in Marikina City.

The Marikina River flows in the center of Marikina Valley because of the mountain ranges of Sierra Madre on the east and Quezon City or Capitol Hills in Quezon City on the west. Marikina River is much known in Marikina City because the city itself maintain its rehabilitation of a river which is a good example in other cities not only in Metro Manila but in the Philippines for reviving neglected rivers and water systems. The river recognized as Hall of Famer for the Cleanest Inland Water in Metro Manila.

The Marikina River system

Marikina River is considered to be at the heart of Marikina City. It intersects with Pasig River along the Manggahan Floodway. The Manggahan Floodway connects Pasig River and Marikina River with Laguna de Bay. Its water flows from the upper portion of the Marikina River into the Manggahan Floodway then directly to the Laguna Lake.

It has 7 creeks and waterways connected to it. The river's depth ranges from 3–21 meters and spans from 70–120 meters. It has a total area of nearly 75.2 hectares and is 11 kilometers long. The riverbank has an elevation of 8 meters above sea level at the boundary of San Mateo and Marikina. This slowly goes down at an elevation of 4 meters nearly before the Malanday and Santo Niño boundary. The lowest elevation is along Calumpang which 2 meters above sea level. The river serves as the city’s major drainage system.^[1] Unfortunately, the water coming from the creeks has many soil particles causing the river to be filled with soil particles coming from residential-industrial land. This has also added to the soil erosion problem of the city.

Bridges

Vargas

Sandoval

Rosario

Felix Manalo

Macapagal

Marcos

Marikina

Fernando Gil (Tumana)

Batasan-San Mateo

E. Rodriguez

Locations of the river's bridges within Metro Manila

There are only nine bridges crossing the river. They are as follows: Batasan Bridge Quezon City to San Mateo, Rizal (near Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City), Gil Fernando "formerly called Tumana", Marikina, Marcos (together with LRT-2 from Katipunan Station to Santolan Station), Macapagal Bridge (Marikina City), Manalo, Rosario, Sandoval and Santa Rosa de Lima Bridge (Pasig City)

Landmarks

Here are the landmarks and areas beside and near Marikina River:

• Wawa Dam (Rodriguez, Rizal)
• Wilcon Depot Warehouse (Rodriguez, Rizal)
• 9 Waves Resort (San Mateo, Rizal)
• St. Nicholas School, Fairlane Subd.,Marikina
• Banaba (San Mateo, Rizal)
• Bagong Silangan (Quezon City)
• Filinvest 2/North Gate Subdivision (Quezon City)
• Capitol Hills (Quezon City)
• University of the Philippines (Quezon City)
• Ateneo De Manila University (Quezon City)
• Loyola Grand Villas (Quezon City and Marikina City)
• Nangka, Tumana and Malanday (Marikina City)
• Loyola Memorial Park (Marikina City)
• Sto. Niño, Sta. Elena, Calumpang and San Roque (Marikina City)
• Marikina River Park (Marikina City)
• Provident Villages (Marikina City)
• Purefoods Corporation (Marikina City)
• Animal Trail (Marikina City)
• Barangka, Jesus Dela Peña, Tañong and Industrial Valley Complex (Marikina City)
• SM City Marikina (Marikina City)
• Riverbanks Center (Marikina City)
• Marcos Highway Interchange (Marikina City)
• LRT-2 Santolan Station (Marikina City)
• Olandes and Camp Atienza (Marikina City)
• Quirino Memoral Medical Center (Quezon City)
• C5 Road (Quezon City)
• Mercury Drug Corporation Headquarters (Quezon City)
• Eastwood City (Quezon City)
• Circulo Verde (Quezon City)
• Bagumbayan, Ugong and Libis (Quezon City)
• Santolan, Manggahan, Rosario and Sta. Lucia (Pasig City)
• Manggahan Central Business Park (Pasig City)
• Manggahan Floodway (Pasig City)
• Ortigas Avenue (Pasig City)
• International Pipe Industries (IPI) (Pasig City)
• Republic Cement (Pasig City)
• Tiendesitas (Pasig City)
• Medical City (Pasig City)
• Ortigas Central Business District (Ortigas Center) (Pasig City and Mandaluyong City)
• Riverfront Residence (Pasig City)
• Ugong, Maybunga, Caniogan and Bagong Ilog (Pasig City)
• Rizal High School (Pasig City)
• Rizal Medical Center (Pasig City)
• Napindan Spillway (Pasig City)

Biology

Marikina River is on the verge of an ecological imbalance, as a strange species of fish dominates its ecosystem. Prior to the invasion of the Janitor fish the Marikina river used to be full of other species: tilapia, martiniko, ayungin and biya.

Since the late 1990s the Marikina River has been plagued by infestation of the so called "Janitor fish". There are two species of Janitor fish present in the Philippines; Pterygoplichthys pardalis and Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus found in the Marikina River and Lake Paitan in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija.^[2]

A scientific study of the species found in five locations in the Laguna de Bay tributary system, amongst them the Marikina River, revealed that the specimen of Janitor fish previously reported as Hypostomus plecostomus actually belong to the genus Pterygoplichthys, family Loricariidae. The collected specimens for this study consisted of two species; Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus and Pterygoplichthys pardalis. Both species were collected from the Marikina River. Only the species disjunctivus was collected from Pasig River.^[3]

The growing fish population has prompted the city government to launch a new program to control their number. The city issued Ordinance 004, series of 2007 to: Ordinance Launching a Janitor Fish Eradication Drive in the City of Marikina, Granting Cash Incentives to Participants Therefore and appropriating Annually the Amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) For the Purpose^[4]

Significant Floods

Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy

On 26 September 2009 at about 6:00 pm PST, Typhoon Ondoy hit Metro Manila and dumped one month's rainfall in less than 24 hours, causing the Marikina River system, including the Manggahan Floodway, to burst its banks very rapidly. Along with flooding along other river systems, 80 percent of the National Capital Region became flooded. Also flooded were 25 nearby provinces. In Metro Manila alone, 20 feet (6.1 m) of dirty water forced people to evacuate their homes. By the 30th of September at least 450,000 inhabitants had been displaced, with at last 380,000 forced into makeshift shelters. 246 people were reported dead. It is thought that blocked pipes and a poorly maintained sewerage system, along with uncollected domestic waste, were major contributory factors in the speed with which the flood waters were able to engulf the surrounding area. A State of National Calamity was declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and a task force was set up to rescue the inhabitants, however the government was forced to admit that resources were in short supply, and called for world assistance. Although, good efforts have been made to make the drainage system better for the whole city by fixing the sewers together with the new trademarked "Red Sidewalks".

This is the worst storm on record that Manila has experienced since 1967.

Typhoon Meari/Falcon

On 24 June 2011, heavy rains of Severe Tropical Storm Meari affected Luzon including Metro Manila. The water level in Marikina River reached its critical level, flooding beside its riverbanks, just near along the river. Fortunately, the water level did not reach its higher banks, into the streets and communities. No casualties were reported but the mud and debris from the river was left by overflowed riverbanks.

Typhoon Nesat/Pedring

On 27 September 2011, Typhoon Pedring dumped heavy rains like Ondoy over Luzon including Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Marikina's water level reached a higher level than 24 June 2011, reaching 20.1 metres (66 ft) by 5pm. The flood submerged houses in several barangays of Marikina City and San Mateo. SM Marikina Basement Parking submerged in muddy water. No deaths were recorded in Marikina, but in San Mateo, there is one. The day after, the Marikina River returned in critical level. On 29 September 2011, 5 am, water subsided in the banks of the river and the residents started to clean. 6 am in the morning, water reaches the 15.2 meters.

See also

• List of rivers and esteros in Manila
• Marikina City
• Pasig River Ferry Service
• Pasig river rehabilitation

External links

• Marikina City Community Portal

References

1. ^ epmgis » Janitor Fish Invasion in Marikina River Plotting Potential Invasion on nearby Water
2. ^ American Chronicle | Janitor Fish Threatens Asia's Largest Marshland
3. ^ http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/zt01109p068.pdf
4. ^ http://mis.marikina.gov.ph/ordinancefiles/ORDINANCENO004.pdf

• Marikina River Pictures