The rainy season has officially arrived. In fact, we have been experiencing rains almost daily, at least in Metro Manila where I am based. As ever, the season brings both comfort and anxiety. As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. And when it pours, it brings floods. Flooding in Pasay was recently reported after flash downpours. Marikina is famously known as one of the most flood-prone areas in Metro Manila, particularly when typhoons strike. Even the city of Makati is not exempt from flash floods partly because of the 16 creeks and canals in and around the city. Of course, with the rains also come the horrendous traffic jams that hound the Metro Manila area. Even without the rain, traffic already is challenging enough. When the rains fall, the already filled roads are compounded by pedestrians scampering to cross roads at will to avoid getting soaked. Motorcycles congregate wherever they can find shelter to don their raincoats, unmindful of hogging a lane or two that backs up vehicles. And, cars slow to a crawl to avoid accidents – and potholes! The good news is that the rains will enable us to “restock” our water reserves. Over the summer, water levels at our dams have been steadily going down. Government and our water utility companies assured us that there was enough water, though, to get us through the worst of the dry season. Alarms were raised, however, about our water reserves falling below levels needed to see us through the coming El Niño. This weather phenomenon, as we know, tends to suppress rainfall over tropical lands, like the Philippines. Some experts voiced their concern that the lack of rains during the summer months could impair our readiness for when the full-effects of the El Niño hits us. Thankfully, the rains are here. Already, we have had three typhoons and a number of inter-tropical zones visit the Philippines. One – Typhoon Mawar (or Betty) – was tracked as a super typhoon but, fortunately, did not make landfall. It brought a lot of rain, though, that helped raise water levels at our reservoirs. The United Nations actually considers access to clean water as a basic human right. A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted in December last year found only 67 percent of respondents claimed they were served by piped water.   In fact, Dr. Sevillo David Jr, executive director of the National Water Resources Board, said 11 million Filipino families are still sourcing water from unsanitary deep wells, rivers, lakes and rainwater. Clearly, there is still a long way to go to assure Filipinos of water supply. As the country’s population and economy continues to grow, the demands of urbanization grows along with it. Central to urban development is meeting the basic and essential needs of citizens such as power, mobility, health care and, of course, water and sanitation. Climate change is one of the main contributors to the lack of water but other reasons have also been cited such as a lack of funding, over-extraction and pollution of water sources. The government has also been criticized for having inadequate water management practices that fail to stop illegal tapping activities and pipe leaks that contaminate the water supply.  This has, in turn, led to sanitation problems such as the easy spread of water-borne diseases like diarrhea, cholera and typhoid, especially in rural areas. At the Water Philippines Conference and Exposition last March, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. (PBBM) acknowledged that the Philippines is facing a water crisis. He said that the country is still heavily dependent on underground aquifers and that there was a need to improve the country’s filtration systems so it can better manage surface water and expand access to potable water. He also cited the necessity of harnessing the latest technologies in  water management technologies to address the problem. All of these, though, need funding and a stronger partnership between government and the private sector. While the Department of Energy (DOE) has been hard at work in addressing the country’s energy security, it seems that a similarly aggressive effort in solving our water security is not yet in place. In February, PBBM approved the creation of a Water Resource Management Office (WRMO) under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). It is meant to be a transitory body until a fully-functioning  Water Resources Department can be created. Among the responsibilities of the WRMO is  the creation and implementation of the Integrated Water Management Plan. The Office will also bring together in a much more collaborative way the other key stakeholders in water-supply management such as the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) and the National Water Resources Board. So, yes, the rains have come. Cheer or jeer? For comments: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])