EDITORIAL - Long-term water security

With floods again occurring regularly in Metro Manila, consumers are frustrated that water continues to be rationed to their households and offices. This year, the National Capital Region suffered the worst water shortage in a decade, with the two water concessionaries being slapped with stiff fines for the supply interruptions that lasted for days on end.

In Bulacan and neighboring areas, farmers are complaining that the National Water Resources Board has cut off the allocation for irrigation to ease supply disruptions in Metro Manila. The NWRB has said that Angat Dam, the principal source of water for the megacity, can be fully replenished and water supply normalized only in two months.

The water shortage has been attributed to what weather experts have described as a “weak” El Niño. What happens when Angat is hit by a “strong” El Niño?

Unreliable water supply has bedeviled Metro Manila, with its booming population, for decades. Recognizing the problem, Republic Act 9275 or the Water Quality Management Act was passed back in 2004. RA 9275 was meant to ensure a reliable supply of safe water through the development of new water sources. It also provided for the construction of facilities for collecting rainwater for recycling. The sites for the facilities, to be built underground by the national government, would be identified by local government units.

Nearly two decades after the enactment of the law, construction of the only new water source so far – the Kaliwa Dam in the Sierra Madres – is just getting underway. There has been zero movement in developing water catchments in flood-prone Metro Manila.

The water supply is so unreliable that households are again reviving old mechanical deep wells to extract ground water amid the shortages. There is no serious effort to promote water recycling, which is being done in several countries with limited or no freshwater sources. The technology and laws are there; all that is lacking is implementation.

The typical government response to water shortages has been ad hoc, and as unpredictable as the weather. Unless this changes, Metro Manila will never have a reliable water supply.