Marcos: Government addressing water woes

MANILA, Philippines — The administration is addressing the water crisis, President Marcos said yesterday as he reiterated the need to improve the way the country manages the resource.

On Monday, Sen. Nancy Binay cited the need to prepare for an impending water crisis, saying the country has been affected regularly by the El Niño phenomenon and yet it continues to be caught off guard by water shortages.

Binay urged the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to share its “holistic and comprehensive water resource plan” and its water allocation and reuse policy with the local governments, so that it can be implemented at the community level.

She asked how many rainwater collection systems have been built by the government in the more than 42,000 barangays in the country since the Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Act was passed in 1989, as well as how many of these are damaged and require rehabilitation.

Asked to react to the call for a comprehensive plan to address a possible water crisis, Marcos said the government has an “overall plan” aimed at improving the way water resources are managed.

“They may not have heard the fact that we have organized already the Office of Water Management precisely to address this problem,” Marcos said.

“All of these things we have already put up together – we have already (put) together (an) overall plan. Now, we have to implement it... There are many agencies that are concerned when it comes to water management. So we have to make it more cohesive,” he added.

Marcos said the Office of Water Management would be attached to the Office of the President and the environment department.

Malacañang has yet to release a copy of the executive order creating the office, which is tasked to ensure sufficient water supply and address environmental challenges.

Marcos cited the need for a shift in the way water supply is acquired from wells to surface water.

He said the government has identified hybrid rice varieties that can survive during the dry season.

“The water management problem that we have in the Philippines... goes beyond just agriculture. Agriculture is an extremely important part of it but we are talking about irrigation – water for irrigation, water for power production, our management of surface water in flood control and for irrigation as well,” Marcos said. “We already have a problem but then there’s now the new factor or not-so-new factor of climate change that we really have to deal with. The good thing is that we have seen many examples of water management around the world which we can emulate.”

Marcos said it is not acceptable that the Philippines, a tropical country, is experiencing water shortage.

“It’s just really a question of managing our water... We kept postponing this problem over the many, many years at every level. So it’s time to put it together,” he added.

The President expressed hope that Congress would pass a bill creating a water agency.

“We are hoping down the road, there are bills that have been filed in the legislature, in both houses, establishing the Department of Water Management, and that’s precisely what we are trying to face,” he said.

‘Adequate this summer’

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has expressed confidence that with conservation efforts, water supply would be adequate this summer.

MWSS administrator Leonor Cleofas yesterday brushed off worries of water shortage this summer despite the El Niño phenomenon projected in the second half of the year.

Starting yesterday, west zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. implemented daily water service interruption in parts of its concession area as part of a measure aimed at preserving its limited water resources.

The rotational water supply is in preparation for the increased likelihood of an El Niño phenomenon by the latter half of the year.

So far, water elevation at the Angat Dam – which supplies 90 percent of raw water for the west zone – remains at a high level as of mid-March.

This developed after PAGASA issued last week an El Niño watch, which is implemented when conditions are favorable for the development of El Niño within the next six months and the probability is above 55 percent.

Cleofas said the El Niño phenomenon would not be felt during the dry months.

“The El Niño will be felt during later part of this year and early part of next year,” she said.

“When there is El Niño, there are no rains, typhoons. So, all we need is to conserve water,” she added.

Based on simulations done by the Angat technical working group (TWG), water level at the dam will still be enough by the end of the dry months or by August.

“In that simulation, our prognosis is still good, our water level is still high,” Cleofas said.

The TWG is composed of the NWR, National Irrigation Administration, MWSS and other water stakeholders.

The MWSS official said Metro Manila does not solely rely on Angat for its water supply.

“We have short to medium (projects) where we can draw additional water. They may be small, not as big as Angat, but it will help meet our needs in the summer months,” Cleofas said.

Meanwhile, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) also urged Filipinos in the provinces to conserve water.

“The conservation program on water resources for both public and private stakeholders should be a whole of nation approach,” LWUA Óadministrator Vicente Homer Revil said during the Laging Handa briefing yesterday.

The LWUA is pushing for the “Patubig para sa Buong Bayan at Mamamayan” program, wherein water infrastructure projects will be pipelined and ensured while providing technical support to these projects.

“Our agency calls for unity to give attention and sufficient support to water resources, especially during times of crisis,” Revil said.

The agency said there is a need for a harmonized national water plan to avert a possible crisis amid the looming El Niño.

The LWUA said a whole of nation approach is important in terms of ensuring steady water supply and water conservation program for the country’s resources.

The LWUA gave assurance that it is implementing infrastructure project to address the possible water crisis. –Danessa Rivera, Romina Cabrera