The Siniloan River ( tl, Ilog ng Siniloan), also known as the Romelo River, is a river system that runs through

Siniloan, Laguna Siniloan, officially the Municipality of Siniloan ( tgl, Bayan ng Siniloan), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,460 people. Sinilóan is a center of educ ...

on the island of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is one of 21

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of Laguna de Bay and is regularly monitored by the

Laguna Lake Development Authority The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), one of the attached agencies of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is responsible for the preservation, development, and sustainability of Laguna de Bay (Laguna Lake) and its ...

(LLDA) through one of its 15 river monitoring stations. The river's

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

can be found in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, particularly Mount Romelo for which the river is often alternately named. In this part of the river, a number of falls have become popular destinations amongst mountaineers, with a reputation for clear waters and a reasonably easy trek. The river then heads down into the coastal plains, going through the main population area of the municipality of

Siniloan Siniloan, officially the Municipality of Siniloan ( tgl, Bayan ng Siniloan), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,460 people. Sinilóan is a center of educ ...

before finally emptying into Laguna de Bay. Throughout its watershed, from mountains to lowlands, the Siniloan is dominated by coconut and grasses. The mountain areas are also characterized by forests, while the lowlands are also characterized by

rice paddies A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Au ...

and residential areas. The Siniloan River sub-basin has a drainage area of .

Tourist sites

Cascading from the Siniloan's headwaters on Mount Romelo, five falls have become particularly well known among the locals and are frequented by tourists. These are: *

* Guiling-Guiling Falls * Lanzones Falls * Binaytuan Falls * Sebakon Falls Buruwisan Falls is the most popular because it is the most accessible among the falls. It has a drop of more or less , giving it a reputation as "an excellent training ground for neophyte mountain climbers." The waters of Buruwisan eventually meet the waters of the Lanzones falls, and then lead to the much bigger Binaytuan Falls, which has a more or less drop.

Conservation

In the latest (December 2005 ) Water Quality Status Report listed on the Laguna Lake Development Authority's site, the Siniloan River was listed as "Class D." It also indicated that this status had been "improved" from "worse than Class D" since the river was last monitored. According to the Water Usage & Classification for Fresh Water system used by the Philippines'

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman, DENR or KKLY) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, developmen ...

, Class D Quality freshwater is suitable for agriculture, irrigation, livestock watering and industrial water supply class II. The LLDA's conservation efforts for the major tributaries and watersheds of Laguna de Bay have led to the creation of the Laguna de Bay River Basin Councils, of which the Siniloan River Rehabilitation &. Management Fdn., Inc. (SRRMFI) is particularly tasked with conservation of the Siniloan. Through the SRRMFI, the LLDA implemented a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

-funded project in 2006 to control growing populations of the janitor fish (

Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus ''Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus'', commonly known as the vermiculated sailfin catfish, is a species of catfish in the family Loricariidae. It is native to South America, where it occurs in the Madeira River basin in Bolivia and Brazil, although it ...

) in Laguna de Bay. Released into the Lake accidentally during a typhoon in the mid-1990s, the species had become a major problem for the freshwater fisheries industry. The project involved paying fisherfolk P10 per kilogram of Janitor Fish, and converting it into feeds for use either in piggeries or in fishpens.

Tourist sites

Conservation

References

See also