Rainwater harvesting eyed as stop-gap solution

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture is considering rainwater harvesting as a stop-gap measure to address limited water availability in the country.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said several provinces in the country are encountering problem on water availability.

The Philippines annually receives about 2,400 millimeters of rainfall, one of the world’s highest.

“But we only harvest six percent of that rainfall. While India only has an average of 700 millimeters of rain annually, they harvest 60 percent of that. That is how important it is for them to harvest much of their rain,” Dar said.

“We are losing our mountains primarily because of logging followed by kaingin and also due to farming and vegetable gardening,” he said.

Studies showed Benguet and some parts of the Cordilleras have gone beyond the carrying capacity of the natural ecosystems due to human activities.

“We need to also balance things out. While we want farming to succeed, we need to see to it that the carrying capacity of the ecosystem is observed. Otherwise, we will always have problems with water availability,” Dar said.

While rainwater harvesting is only a stop-gap solution, Dar said it is important to identify the areas for agriculture and areas for re-vegetation or reforestation.

“But the long term measure is comprehensive land use at the provincial and municipal levels. Our population is increasing and therefore our ecosystem is not able to carry all these series of human activities,” Dar said.

“With our rainfall, if we will not save or impound these waters, it will also be a problem for those in the lowland areas,” he said.