CHAPTER II.

PRESENT STATE OF THE WATERSHED

2.1. Physical Environment
2.1.1. Geophysical location
The Mayo River can be found at 7.0894 latitude and 126.2709 longitude. It is located in
the easternmost part of the Philippine Island of Southern Mindanao. It is bounded to the
west by Davao Province, to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the Davao
Gulf and the Celebes Sea, and the north by Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur. The
Mayo River spans approximately 12,587.07 hectares. It is situated on the administrative
borders of the municipalities of Tarragona, Lupon, and the City of Mati.
The Mayo watershed/river traverses between Mati City and Tarragona Municipality. This
river serves as one of the major drainage systems in the area of Mt. Mayo mountain.
The river exhibits a braided river pattern and is separated by small and often temporary
islands of braid bars. It flows with a Northwest-Southeast trend and discharges towards
Mayo Bay.
2.1.2. Political and administrative Boundary
The Mayo watershed administrative boundaries include two (2) municipalities and one
(1) city, namely the municipalities of Lupon, Tarragona, and Mati, Davao Oriental.
However, there is a contested territorial claim and overlapping internal boundary
disputes between the local government units within the watershed's area cover. (Annex
A.1).
Specifically, contested administrative boundaries include Lupon vs Tarragona, Manay
vs Lupon, Manay vs Tarragona, Mati City vs Lupon, Mati City vs Tarragona, Mati city vs
Tarragona vs Lupon.
Among the above-mentioned administrative boundaries, the Mati City has the largest
area covered by the Mayo watershed.
2.1.3. Geo-morphological features
The geomorphometric parameters describe the physical characteristics of the
watershed, such as its roughness, overall shape, drainage qualities, and dissection.
These characteristics indicate the watershed's resiliency to rain events or susceptibility
to natural disasters such as flooding and erosion. These geomorphological parameters
are based on the DENR MC 2008-05 (Annex B. Table 1)
2.1.3.1 Watershed-shape parameters
A. Area
In terms of area, the Mayo watershed having an area of 12,587.07 hectares is classified
as a medium-scale watershed (100 to 500 km2 or 10,000-50,000 ha) based on the size
range.
B. Form factor