Water agency mulls measures to improve water mgm’t in RP

BANGKOK, Thailand – The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) of the Philippines plans to implement various controversial measures to improve the country’s management of its critical water resources.

These include raw water pricing and volumetric pricing of water for agricultural purposes.

"We are now looking at various models from other countries for adoption in raw water pricing and river basin management, along with pricing of water used by farmers," said NWRB executive director Ramon Alikpala during the regional journalists workshop on "Water Issues in Asia" conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Alikpala said these measures are part of the NWRB’s medium-term development goal of putting in place by 2010 an integrated water resources management (IWRM) plan that will define how the dwindling water resources of the Philippines can be maximized and still ensure sustainable economic activities.

He said a raw water pricing scheme is now being pilot-tested in Bohol and Negros Oriental provinces in the Visayas region. The two-year study should be completed by 2007.

Under the raw water pricing scheme, the NWRB will be charging a regulatory fee based on the volume of raw water extracted from surface and ground water sources by water utilities, recreational users such as golf courses, industrial users and other purposes. The volumetric pricing of water for agricultural purposes is also being considered.

"Farmers never had to pay for water, but we are reviewing their costs and translate these fixed expenses to volumetric levels, and determine how to impose reasonable fares based on the economic value of the water they are using," explained Alikpala.

The fees raised from raw water pricing will go a long way in partially funding watershed protection, reforestation, conservation programs (recycling, rainwater harvesting, recharging), water supply and sanitation projects, flood and drought mitigation projects, irrigation projects, awareness programs and other water-related critical projects.

"It is still very much in the conceptual stage however, because various affected sectors are likely to question it, nobody wants to pay for water, but at the end of the day, when it is done, it will ensure the equitable use and distribution of the country’s water resources," stressed Alikpala.

He said that the raw water pricing will take into account several factors such as the sensitivities of the poor, the concerns of small farmers, the concerns of areas where water resource is critical. He said the process of determining the final measure will have to be transparent.