Water supply woes seen as major economic threat

CEBU, Philippines - Stakeholders in Cebu must work to ensure stable water supply in the next decades amid its rapid urbanization.

Tadashi Matsumoto, project manager of Public Governance and Territorial Development of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), warned yesterday that water scarcity can be a major constraint for Cebu's economic development in the next years if the stable supply issue is not addressed.

"It's a basic human need for the future development of the economy," Matsumoto told The FREEMAN in an interview yesterday at the sidelines of the 5th OECD Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia in Cebu City.

Cebu has been selected as one of the five areas in Asia to be studied under the Urban Green Growth in Dynamic Asia Project by OECD. The study will focus on the policy dimensions related to Cebu's land use and spatial planning, water situation and metropolitan governance.

Matsumoto called on stakeholders to address basic issues such as availability of drinking water and ensuring water quality.

Matsumoto emphasized that water demand is expected to increase with the rising economic activities and growing industries in Cebu.

The fast population growth in Metro Cebu is also increasing the pressure on existing systems of water supply.

The expanding urbanization and the rising population are two major factors cited to have intensified the challenges related to water quality and wastewater treatment.

The Roadmap Study for Sustainable Urban Development in Cebu done by Japan International Cooperation Agency projects the water supply demand in Metro Cebu to increase by 437,000 cubic meters per day to reach around 800,000 per cubic meters a day by 2050.

And this will require large investment in the development and improvement of existing water supply infrastructure, JICA said.

As of 2013 water supply in Metro Cebu stood at 227,525 cubic meters per day and this is seen to increase to 359,800 cubic meters per day by 2020. (FREEMAN)