The Philippines’ water resources are abundant given the volume of actual renewable surface and groundwater resources. Despite this seeming abundance, both the surface and groundwater resources of the Philippines are under threat. The 2010 land use and land cover map of the country reflects the critical condition of the country’s major river basins, which endangers its surface water potential.
What’s more, the supply of groundwater (based on 2004 data from the National Statistical Coordination Board) has been declining over time. This is likely due to unregulated groundwater extraction in many parts of the country. The 2003 Philippine Environmental Monitor published by the World Bank reported the absence of water rights permits in about 60 per cent of groundwater extraction activities.
This endangers the future supply of 86 per cent of the country’s piped water systems that use groundwater as a source. More importantly, it threatens the well-being of about 50 per cent of the people in the Philippines who depend on groundwater for drinking.
Considering the insufficient water availability against the increasing demand for water, as well as the degenerating quality of both surface and underground water, these resources are approaching their critical limit. Worse still, the regulatory authorities do not have up-to-date data to adapt their water allocation decisions for more intelligent planning.
There are about 30 different national and local government unit (LGU) agencies managing water resources. Among these agencies are water apex bodies with regulatory functions and line agencies with legal mandates over water quality, claims on water resources, water-risk mitigation and investment.
LGU agencies also have legal mandates over water and sanitation services under the Local Government Code and are presumably deputised by national line agencies as the implementer of program-based intervention initiatives. The fragmented nature of these institutions significantly contributes to the water crisis.
There is also a disparity of rights between water permit holders who exercise the authority to access and withdraw water resources and other institutions with only shared responsibility over watershed management. This inhibits effective water-related decision making, resulting in conflicts that may lead to unsustainable water supply.
In the Philippines, state-assigned water rights are administered by the National Water Resource Board. But there are also water rights customs which can be more dominant, and are practiced especially in rural upland areas. Downstream, the right to access and withdraw water for the purposes of irrigation is awarded by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). Domestic water providers (water districts) are given the rights to water geared for household use.
While these institutions are responsible for allocating water rights, their responsibilities are not clearly stipulated. For instance, although the NIA has the right to water flowing downstream, it is not assigned to protect its water source upstream. Those assigned to do so also do not have the mandate to work with water rights holders downstream. So any mismanagement of the upstream water source may result in scarcity of irrigation water downstream. The solution to this water scarcity problem is beyond the control of the irrigation sector.
The water sector in the Philippines has been plagued by issues because of the weakness of institutions charged with overseeing water rights and unclear delineations of duties and responsibilities. Water rights, in the form of permits and franchises, are contested and poorly understood at the community level, where informal mechanisms and rules pertaining to water access, withdrawal and management are more readily observed.
The existing regulations also do not support collective management of water resources. Those to whom management measures are applied such as upstream swidden farmers are separate from those who consume the water such as rice farmers midstream, and downstream urban city dwellers such as in Metro Manila.
The current discussions about the Manila water crisis have centred on the investment plans to supply more water to the city. But before any investment can take place, regulations such as environmental clearances, right of way issues and social impacts on the indigenous peoples residing along or near water sources will have to be met. These are some of the causes of the delays in the implementation of additional water supply infrastructure for city households.
Those in hot water because of the crisis have emphasised that their responsibility is only the delivery of water and that it is the government’s duty to ensure that water is actually available. Regardless of with whom the responsibility lies, amidst increasing demand for water, the Duterte government urgently needs to achieve sustainable water supply.
Agnes C. Rola is an Adjunct Professor in the College of Public Affairs and Development at the University of the Philippines Los Baños and a Member of the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines.
If we do a deep and wide analysis and assessment of all the factors that are contributing to the country’s water crisis, we can write a whole book about it. But if we just want to get down to the brass tacks, I’d say: if there is enough water to go by for human consumption – drinking and household water, irrigation water, hydropower water and industrial-commercial water, then most of the peripheral problems will be inconsequential. How do we achieve it?
Let’s review the technical data on the earth’s water resources:
• 71% of the earth’s surface is water
• 97% of the earth’s water is salty ocean
• Less than 3% of the earth’s water is fresh water
• Over 68% of the fresh water on earth is found in ice caps and glaciers
• just over 30% of the earth’s freshwater is groundwater
• Only about 0.3% of fresh water is found in the surface water of lakes, rivers and swamps.
• More than 99% of the earth’s waters are not consumable by man and other living things. What are consumable are only those freshwater in the groundwater, lakes, rivers and swamps – a tiny fraction of the total, but which are diminishing fast.
Arguably, the biggest factor in ensuring the availability of dependable freshwater supply over the long term is reforestation. How so?
• Trees extract water from the soil (groundwater), store it in their barks, branches and leaves and then gradually release it back into the atmosphere in a process called Transpiration. The released water vapors form into clouds and fall as rain. When large areas of forests are cut down, this eliminates the water released back into the atmosphere, thus reduces cloud formation, thus reduces rainfall.
• Reduced rainfall causes reduced groundwater supply and lesser waters in lakes and rivers.
• Further, with fewer trees, whatever reduced rain that falls is largely wasted because of faster surface runoff due to lack of vegetation. Such runoff water flows fast to the rivers and then off to the sea—-wasted valuable fresh water.
• Trees slow down the rain as it falls to the earth helping it soak into the soil (groundwater storage).
• Roots help break up compacted soil and open up space so that water can be absorbed even deeper into the soil
The problem – the state of the country’s forests. In 1900, we had 21 million hectares of forests. Today it is down to less than 7 million. And diminishing fast due to agricultural expansion, logging (mostly illegal), forest fires/kaingin, typhoons, rapidly increasing population.
So the solution for solving the country’s water crisis is sustained and widespread reforestation nationwide, especially in the critical watershed areas feeding waters to dams.
Calling Pres. Duterte – this is where we need your vaunted political will and determination. This is a thousand times more significant than cleaning Boracay and Manila Bay….
Hope this idea helps secure a better future for coming generations.
Ismael D. Tabije
International Consultant on Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering
Hi Prof. Rola,
Tbe article sumamrizes the seeming incapacity of governing bodies to properly give a solution to our current situation.
Although i can’t cite some references now, proper governance is key in this crisis. the crisis on water,and soon,on power and food security,may well be caused by poor urban planning and foresight. Build a hundred condos of at least 500 units each in an already overpopulated metropolis would more likely create a crisis,and perhaps an alibi to build infrastructure (like)that would more be stop gap solution that will also destroy the environment for the future