Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said watershed is the “lifeline” of the country’s water supply system, but the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) admitted there isn’t enough government budget to even set up a watershed management information system.
During the Earth Day Talk organized by Maynilad Water Services Inc. last week, Alicia Castillo, Forest Management Bureau Chief for Watershed Ecosystem Management Section at DENR, said while there is enough budget for watershed management, this doesn’t cover the establishment of modern information system, which is crucial for monitoring and regulation of the country’s watershed.
DENR is the primary government agency responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the country's environment and natural resources, specifically forest and grazing lands, mineral resources, including those in reservation and watershed areas.
MWSS, on the other hand, is mandated to provide an uninterrupted and continuous supply of potable water in Metro Manila and parts of Cavite and Rizal.
The agency particularly taps raw water from the critical watersheds of the Southern Sierra Madre Mountains (i.e. Umiray, Angat, Ipo, La Mesa, and Laguna de Bay), with Angat Dam as its primary source.
Some 15 million people in Metro Manila and nearby provinces rely on raw water sourced from dams that are replenished by watersheds.
“Right now, our budget is enough but that’s only because there is a pandemic. We have targets for a watershed management plan that are supposed to be consultative, participative, and we need to conduct face-to-face meetings, workshops, and consultancy. We weren’t able to do that that’s why we have to return our budget for that,” Castillo said.
“But before the pandemic, we really lack funds. For decision-makers and for the media, if there is a water supply problem or if there’s a drought, we will not be able to give data on watershed because we don’t have a watershed information database system,” she added.
According to her, a database system could have helped the government identify how much of the forest surrounding the watershed is still covered and how much is badly needing rehabilitation.
“There is a fund for rehabilitation but for the information system, there’s none. So if senators, congressmen, or media will ask data from us, we don’t have any,” Castillo further said.
For his part, Roman Corpuz, manager at watershed management division of MWSS, said watershed is the ‘lifeline of our supply system” but unfortunately, it is now prone to hydrologic hazards like flooding, landslide, and drought.
“The effects of climate change in our watersheds are extreme. This also has a direct effect on our water supply. For instance, the high level of turbidity in water affects the treatment operations of concessionaires. Their treatment facilities can’t handle too much turbidity. It is important that we reduce the turbidity from the source of water,” Corpuz said.
Turbidity refers to increased sediment concentrations in raw water.
Right now, he said the challenges in watershed management are how to mitigate the climate impacts and risks to watershed resources as well as how to establish an evidence-based management system for it.
MWSS currently has a budget of P50 million to P60 million per year for watershed management. This budget is part of the approved capital expenditure of the agency’s concessionaires, Maynilad and Manila Water Company Inc.
In a separate briefing, Maynilad Chief Operating Officer Randy Estrellado said our watershed “is not in the best state” and that there should be a higher budget allocated to it.
Maynilad currently set aside only 1 percent of its capex to watershed management.
“We have to do more. The turbidity issue it's been happening every year. Before, it only happens once every four years. And now even the turbidity level in raw water is at an unprecedented level too,” Estrellado said.
“Maynilad can only do so much. There have to be unified efforts,” he added.
Last November, Maynilad’s water service was interrupted for a few days due to the high turbidity level of raw water in Ipo Dam as one of the impacts of Typhoon Ulysses, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines in 2020. Maynilad’s clearing operations took weeks to finish.
Nevertheless, Maynilad said in a statement that it is ramping up initiatives to protect vital watersheds surrounding Metro Manila.
These enhanced initiatives—to be done at the Ipo, La Mesa and Umiray watersheds—include the reforestation of denuded forest lands, close assessment of planting sites, intensified monitoring of major Ipo River tributaries to determine sources of high turbidity, and renewed engagement of Dumagat forest rangers to monitor, guard, and report on the status of the Ipo watershed, among others.
These will be done in partnership with the DENR, MWSS, local government of Quezon City, and the Municipalities of General Nakar, Norzagaray, San Jose del Monte, and Rodriguez.
Significant among the enhanced programs is the development of the Ipo Watershed Plan—a comprehensive program that the MWSS and the water concessionaires will undertake over the next 25 years for the use, protection, and management of the Ipo Watershed.
“There is a need for stricter protection of our watersheds so that the raw water we get from our dams will be preserved, and our water production will not be affected either by supply shortage or by unprecedented increases in raw water turbidity,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez said.