Act on this early warning of a water shortage

WE are today suffering from shortages of all kinds – rice, fish and other food, sugar, etc. Manila Water, which serves the water needs of households in eastern Metro Manila, has now warned that we may face a serious water shortage by 2023 if no new water sources for the region are developed.

Water is distributed by Manila Water in eastern Metro Manila – Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, parts of Quezon City and Manila, and several towns of Rizal. The other concessioner, Maynilad, serves the western zone – most of Manila, parts of Quezon City and Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon, as well as parts of Cavite.

Water for all of Metro Manila now comes from the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa dam system in Bulacan, with Maynilad getting 60 percent of the supply for the western zone and Manila Water getting 40 percent for the eastern zone. During the hot summer months of April, May, and June, the water levels in the dams dip and supply shortages are feared. But during the rainy months of July, August, and September, the water levels rise and the dams sometimes need to release water that contributes to flooding in the lowlands.

Last week, Manila Water warned of a possible water shortage in its area because of fast-rising demand. Building of the Kaliwa Low Dam in Rizal was approved in 2014 but it will be completed only in 2023. Manila Water Chief Operating Officer Geodino Carpio said demand in its concession area is growing at 40 to 50 million liters daily. It may not be able to keep up with the demand as early as 2021.

Manila Water, he said, has proposed a 113-billion integrated water plant to process water from Laguna Lake but the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System deems the project too expensive to build. Water from Kaliwa Dam, Manila Water said, will be available only in 2023. But, it stressed, Metro Manila needs a new water source between now and 2023.

We hope government planners will give due consideration to this problem before it hits us with an impact many times worse than the current food supply problems. For water is a far more critical need of people than electric power or food.

We actually have a lot of water in our country with its regular rainfall during the monsoon months, especially when they are intensified by storms and typhoons. We have had proposals to save as much as we can of this rain through reservoirs. Instead we let it flow out to sea while wreaking havoc on population centers in lowlands along the way.

We can proceed with present plans for more dams like Kaliwa Dam in Rizal but we should also be planning for smaller and less costly water collecting reservoirs that will save most of the rainwater that now only serves to flood our towns and cities. As for Manila Water’s expectation of a serious water shortage by 2023, five years from now, our government planners should put that on their priority list of problems that need to be solved while there is time.