What we call summer here has just started. We are resigned to having our power situation iffy, at best. But more important than power, will we have enough water?
We have taken water availability for granted in most of the country. Actually, less than half of the country has access to clean water.
Worse, according to Google, “water quality in the Philippines usually does not meet the standards set by the national government, especially in urban areas. The only areas of the Philippines confirmed to provide safe drinking water is the metropolitan area of Manila.”
The problem of Metro Manila, however, is the source of supply. We are dependent over 90 percent on Angat Dam, which is on top of the West Valley Fault. Can you imagine if the said overdue Big One happens and cracks that dam?
The water in Angat Dam also goes close to critical level during our summer months. But thanks to all the rain we have been having lately, I am told the level is quite healthy for the next few months.
For the long term, we should move faster to secure Mega Manila’s water supply… not just Metro Manila, but also for the adjoining provinces too. Administrations come and go, but this is one big unattended problem.
My friend Arnel Casanova, who used to head BCDA and who designed Clark Green City, posted his concern on Facebook:
“One of the tragic ironies I see in the Philippines is the current water crisis in Metro Manila and the CALABARZON with 30 million people. It is 30 percent of the Philippine population creating approximately 50 percent of the nation’s GDP. That is half the economy of the country burdened by shortage of stable water supply.”
But as Arnel pointed out, there is an obvious solution in plain sight and not as contentious as the proposed Kaliwa dam.
“Yet right in the heart of NCR and CALABARZON regions lies the biggest freshwater lake in the country. Laguna Lake has 3.2 billion cubic meters of freshwater. In terms of liters, that is 3.2 TRILLION liters of fresh water!
“According to PIDS, the average Metro Manila resident consumes between 48 to 108 liters of water per day. Assuming it at 100 liters per day, the entire 30 million people will consume only 0.1 percent of the Laguna Lake water.
“To make it even more tragic, the lake is fed with fresh spring water by 187 rivers from the Sierra Madre and the Banahaw-Makiling mountains, which at source is so clean.
“Sadly, this spring water becomes dirty when it reaches the lake because Metro Manila and CALABARZON industries and people treat Laguna Lake as their huge septic tank and garbage dump. And now we have a water crisis!
“We must save and revive one of our country’s most precious natural treasures – Laguna Lake – for us to survive and progress as a nation.”
Arnel isn’t the first one to express this view. The Management Association of the Philippines had sent an appeal, together with a draft EO for former president Rodrigo Duterte, to sign that would have ordered government units to work together to clean up Laguna Lake. It was ignored.
Ed Yap, who heads MAP’s infrastructure committee, told me that they also sent the same appeal and the same EO to the office of President Marcos. So far, no response.
There are many, even among the scientific community, who say Laguna Lake cannot be a source of water for purification since its average depth of 2.5 meters is below the global standard of a minimum of 2.8 meters depth for harvesting water for purification.
Manila Water and Maynilad are tapping it anyway, but the process of cleaning up the water is rather expensive.
Indeed, before we can really tap the water of our country’s largest lake, we must stop the lake’s pollution, whether organic or inorganic, from households, farms, fisheries, and industries. This is not easy to do.
We knew long ago we had to do this anyway, which was why a law was passed creating the Laguna Lake Development Authority, which turned out to be totally useless.
As it happens, our lawmakers, mostly lawyers, think they have done their job after they pass a law. Corrupt politicians and their proteges just milked the powers of the authority.
The MAP draft EO declares that the primary use of the lake’s water is to provide potable water for Mega Manila.
The MAP also called for a massive reforestation program for the Laguna Lake watershed, implementation of zoning regulations around the lake area, as well as the strict implementation of all environmental laws to address water quality concerns.
Cleaning up the lake requires a reversal of a culture in our society that disregards the common good. We treat lakes, rivers, and seas as open sewers.
But there is now available technology to help clean up rivers and lakes of domestic and industrial pollution. Singapore has successfully used technology to recycle its water.
Indeed, in the condo development where I live, the sanitary treatment plant or STP treats all our sewage to the point that it is clean enough to be used to water plants, wash cars and other domestic uses. I imagine it needs just one more step to make it drinkable.
I get the impression from the Facebook post of Arnel that he is now working on a master plan using biotechnology to clean up and save our lake.
“The masterplan provides doable solutions to the problems besetting Laguna Lake, the poverty that is present in lakeshore communities and the need to create economic opportunities that are more inclusive and sustainable.
“Through PPP models, we are finding partners and technologies to help prevent polluted water and garbage from reaching the lake. Last Monday, I visited a facility that uses one of these viable technologies by employing bacteria to treat water. I found it interesting and scalable in different communities around the lake.”
A “Save Laguna Lake, Save our Lives Movement” is needed. We do not have a shortage of water. We simply lack the political will and the good sense not to shit in our own drinking water, literally!
Boo Chanco’s email address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco