AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol is pushing for the passage of a law that allows the Department of Agriculture (DA) to build small reservoirs nationwide to improve the country’s water system to avert future water crises.
The measure was among the recommendations made by the DA at the Cabinet-level meeting on water last week, according to Piñol. The meeting was presided by Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana.
In a separate development, however, a lawmaker noted there is a 30-year-old law mandating the setting up by barangays of rainwater collectors, which has not been implemented. Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said Congress should probe the “lifeless performance” of Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Law, or Republic Act 6715 as Metro Manila and 71 provinces reel from “waterless conditions.”
Piñol said they support the bill filed by Sen. Loren B. Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change, that seeks to promote sustainable land management (SLM) programs, including the creation of a national soil and water conservation program.
Under the bill, according to Piñol, the DA would receive “funding tobuildsmallreservoirs, impounding and water catchments all over the country.”
The other measures proposed by the DA include the dredging of major river systems nationwide “to increase water holding capacity and prevent flooding during rainy season.”
The DA also pushed for stricter enforcement of forest protection laws and the creation of a national program to locate and identify headwaters to be declared as protected areas. Piñol said he also recommended the funding of alternative irrigation systems, particularly the DA’s banner program of solar-powered irrigation.
“Unless these measures are implemented, the Philippines could face a major water crisis in the next few years,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
At the meeting, Piñol said he made a presentation on the threat of a “looming water crisis” to the agriculture sector.
Piñol said the country’s water supply for agriculture has been de- clining over the past decades due to major reasons, including continued deforestation and absence of water conservation programs.
The delay in the implementation of irrigation systems and reliance of the farm sector on traditional irrigation systems are also factors in the looming water crisis.
Piñol said the frequency of El Niño—now occurring every two years—drains the country’s water supply.
Rainwater collectors
AMID the water shortage, a lawmaker on Sunday asked Congress to look into the implementation of a 30-year-old law that requires the installation of rainwater collectors in all barangays.
“We actually have a 1989 statute that calls for the construction of rainwater harvesters in all barangays. But it seems that the execution of the law has been wanting,” Surigao del Sur’s Pimentel said in a statement.
However, members of the House are asking large water users, such as malls, office buildings and golf courses, to install their own rainwater collectors.
“Congress has to ascertain the factors holding up the law’s aggressive operation, and fix the problem right away—whether it is simply due to lack of funding or other is- sues,” Pimentel added.
Section 2 of the law states: “The Department of Public Works and Highways shall, within 30 days after the approval of this Act, undertake the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, development of springs and rehabilitation of existing water wells in all barangays in the Philippines in such number as may be needed and feasible, taking into consideration the population, hydrologic conditions, costs of project development and operations, financial and economic factors and institutional arrangements.”
At present, Pimentel, citing Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said Metro Manila and 40 provinces are reeling from a “dry spell.”
Areas are under a dry spell if they have had “three consecutive months of below normal rainfall, or two consecutive months of way below normal rainfall.”
In Luzon, the 24 provinces under a dry spell are: Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Apayao, Mountain Province, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Marinduque, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.
In the Visayas, the 11 provinces under a dry spell are: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar and Samar (Western Samar). In Mindanao, the five provinces under a dry spell are: Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Tawi-Tawi.
According to a Pagasa assessment, 31 other provinces are experiencing either “drought” or a “dry condition.”
Drought means “three consecutive months of way below normal rainfall, or five consecutive months of below normal rainfall.”
The 10 provinces reeling from drought are: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Maguindanao and Sulu.
The 21 provinces experiencing dry condition, or two consecutive months of below normal rainfall, are: Ifugao, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Bulacan, Aurora, Rizal, Guimaras, Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor, Southern Leyte, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Basilan and Lanao del Sur.
Image credits: Climate Change Commission PH