The Jalaur River, also known as Jalaud River, is the second longest

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

island in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, with a total length of and the second largest by

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

after

Panay River The Panay River (known as Pan-ay River) is the longest river on Panay Island in the Philippines, with a total length of approximately and a drainage basin area of . It drains almost the entire province of Capiz and northern portion of Iloilo pro ...

Capiz Capiz (), officially the Province of Capiz (Capiznon language, Capiznon/Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the central part of the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines ...

. The Jalaur has a

drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

of . Its source is in the Central Panay Mountain Range, west of Calinog, and the river traverses east to southeast before emptying into the Guimaras Strait. It drains the eastern portion of Panay and courses through Passi City and the towns of Leganes, Zarraga, Dumangas, Barotac Nuevo, Pototan,

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

, San Enrique, Dueñas, and Calinog, all in

Iloilo province Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regio ...

. The river provides irrigation to farmlands as well as providing a source of potable water. The river is the site of the Jalaur Mega Dam project that begun in 2019.

Etymology

''Jalaur'', also known by its variant form ''Jalaud'', seems to be a Hispanicized form of Halawod, the river which serves as the core setting of ''Hinilawod'', an epic poem from

Geography

The Jalaur River has an annual average discharge of . The lower reached of the Jalaur River experiences seasonal flooding. When there is heavy downpour, during the months of June to September, the river overflows and floods the surrounding area.

island is also located within the typhoon belt, which experiences several typhoons annually, is also a major factor of flooding of the river.

Municipalities/Cities

The Jalaur River passes through the following city and municipalities: Cities: * Passi City Municipalities: * Leganes, Iloilo * Zarraga, Iloilo * Dumangas, Iloilo *

Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo Barotac Nuevo, officially the Municipality of Barotac Nuevo (, ), is a municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 58,176 people. The town is officially known as the ''Football ...

* Pototan, Iloilo * Dingle, Iloilo * San Enrique, Iloilo * Dueñas, Iloilo * Calinog, Iloilo

Economic importance

The Jalaur River is used in irrigating in the province of

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

through the Jalaur River Irrigation System. The Metro Iloilo Water District, the potable water provider for Iloilo City, sources some of its water requirement from the river.

Jalaur River Multipurpose Project II

In July 2024, President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

and Franklin Drilon launched the PHP19 billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project II in Calinog. As of June 2024, the National Irrigation Administration said the entire project is 75.51% finished and will operate by mid-2025. JRMP II is composed of a 38.5-meter afterbay dam, a 109-meter high dam, a 10-meter river catch dam, and 214-

kilometer The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the preferred mea ...

irrigation

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

s covering 17 municipalities of

References

External links

* {{Protected areas in Western Visayas Rivers of the Philippines Landforms of Iloilo