'GET AWAY.' The 21-storey Tagaytay Prime Residences by Cityland is being marketed as the 'perfect refuge' for urbanites

Tagaytay Fora will be a "mixed use" project composed of a 10-story condotel; a commercial block with a Metro Gaisano Supermarket, department store, 4 digital cinemas, and around 300 dining and retail shops; and a forest-like garden that can be used for events.

The District Tagaytay meanwhile will feature two 14-floor condominium buildings.

Six new condominium buildings were approved last year and will begin construction this year.

It seems development is finally coming to the probinsya of Arellano's memory. But a look at scientific studies commissioned by the Cavite provincial government and a talk with scientists show that Tagaytay's vertical and urban development may spell crisis for the rest of the province.

Know your neighbors

Water is often an overlooked resource, especially for a city rising so near a lake. But water is one of Tagaytay's looming problems.

"Tagaytay may have water today, but it will be an issue in the long run," Professor Noel Sedigo, chairman of Cavite State University's environment studies department, told Rappler.

Sedigo has been tapped by the province to analyze its water situation. After looking at various studies and making some of his own, he said the picture does not look good.

While Tagaytay has just enough water for its households at the moment, its current trend of vertical development and urbanization is likely to cause a water shortage in the near future.

Water is a problem for the rest of Cavite too. In fact, a 2012 study commissioned by the province shows that the province as a whole is already experiencing water shortage.

The study, conducted by energy and bulk water supply group SUWECO, concluded that the province is already short of water by around 1,200 million liters/day (MLD).

This is because total water demand for 2015 was pegged at 1,777 MLD while the total amount of water the province can recover from under the ground and from its springs and rivers is only 618 MLD, according to a summary of the report obtained by Rappler.

How will the province manage in 2040 when it is expected to have a water demand of 2,845 MLD?

If nothing is done, Cavite's supply of groundwater (water stored underground for thousands of years) will run out by 2019, said Sedigo.

The SUWECO study showed that the agriculture-intense towns of General Trias, Tanza, Naic, and Imus drink up most of the water for irrigating crops. This is apart from the industrial, recreational, commercial, and residential usage of water.

Thirsty Tagaytay

The shortage is already being felt. According to a 1991 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), intense groundwater extraction (the process of pumping groundwater to water pipes) is causing groundwater levels to decrease by one meter annually.

The province estimates that its groundwater is now 15 to 50 meters below its level in 1990. Thus, to reach the groundwater and be able to deliver it to faucets all over the province, longer and longer pipes have had to be used.

In places as elevated as Tagaytay, 3 pipes, each 25 feet long, are now used instead of just one, adding to the cost of water. Data from the province and Tagaytay City Water District (TCWD) showed that water rates have been rising steadily, from P125 ($2.8) in 2000 to P233 ($5.3) in 2012.

And what about its new high-rise buildings? Sedigo said lower groundwater means contractors will need more powerful water pumps to bring the water all the way to the highest floors.

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