Water management is too big to handle

The country has ample water resources—421 rivers, 221 lakes, and significant groundwater plus a yearly rainfall average of 2,400 mm that provide approximately 146 billion cubic meters (m3) of freshwater annually. Likewise, our islands are surrounded by seawater.

Despite this, a lot still experience water shortage while others are still deprived of access to potable water.

In fact, a National Economic and Development Authority study shows that water availability per person in the country is 1,553 m3 per year—an alarming situation as this is way below the international “water stress” threshold of 1,700 m3 per person and slowly closing in to the 1,000 m3 per person “water scarcity” threshold. Accordingly, below 500 m3 per person is considered “absolute scarcity.”

With this problem facing the country’s population, Senator Grace Poe’s push for the passage of Senate Bill No. 102 (the proposed National Water Resource Management Act) may be the right answer.

Under Poe’ proposed measure, now pending at the committee level, a Department of Water Resources will be created as the primary policy planning, coordinating, and implementing agency responsible for the comprehensive and integrated development and management of the country’s water resources.

Apart from the Department of Water Resources, the bill seeks to create the Water Regulatory Commission, an independent, quasi-judicial body that will set the policy for water supply; sewerage and septage management; issue licenses; set, review and approve rates; review and suspend contracts; initiate investigations on erring officials; review and revoke issuances, memoranda and the like, that are not in accordance with the spirit of the commission, and ensure that the welfare of consumers are prioritized.

Currently, we have a number of government agencies and private entities involved in water management and distribution. Among the major government agencies are the National Water Resources Board, the local government units, the Local Water Utilities Administration, and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

“The irony is that although there is a horde of offices involved in water, there is no one agency that has overall responsibility,” the senator said during a forum on Water Security Strategy. “Simply put: Our tubig (water) sector is too big. So before we all sink, we need nothing less than a Titanic reform to prevent a Titanic disaster.”

We look forward to the enactment of the proposed National Water Resource Management Act as this will not only rationalize water management, it may also help revive and accelerate the implementation of Republic Act 6716 (the Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Act of 1989). The program under RA 6716 was supposed to have been completed on or before June 30, 1991, but sadly not much has been accomplished.

Rainwater collector facilities would have helped alleviate the country’s water problem if only the law was set into motion. Not only this, rainwater collector facilities would ease flooding. Just look around malls with this type of facilities—they save on water cost and are less prone to flooding.

With water management too big to handle, we need a major state agency to take care of business.

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