Siltation and flooding, 2

SOLVING t he problem of flooding actually achieves the twin objectives of disaster risk reduction ( DRR) and climate change adaptation ( CCA). These two concerns are actually two sides of the same coin, and these should be addressed simultaneously, preferably by the same government agency.

As it is now however, the DRR function is under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council ( NDRRMC), while the CCA function is under the Climate Change Commission (CCC). Even if there could be some problems in coordinating these two concerns at the national level, there are some opportunities in coordinating these at the regional level, specifically at the Regional Development Councils (RDCs).

Common sense would t ell us that our regions are actually broader ecosystems that should be planned together and managed as one, at least from an environment perspective. I say broader, because the ecosystems of the provinces are too small to be managed as one, not to mention that these smaller ecosystems could not, and should not be managed apart from the broader ecosystems that they are part of.

One advantage of planning and managing environmental concerns at the RDC level is the attendance of national agencies that are also involved in the environment, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( DENR), the Department of Science and Technology ( DOST) and t he Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

To give credit where credit i s due, the DPWH has already removed the silt in the bigger waterways of some regions, and the only remaining challenge now is how the provinces and municipalities in these regions could maintain the cleaner status of these waterways.

This i s i ndeed a challenge, b e c a u s e w i t h o u t c l e a r e r environment programs and without stricter law enforcement, it is difficult to see how the new buildup of silt and garbage deposits could be prevented. Thanks to new technologies, it is now possible to monitor and track the status of clean- up efforts, i ncluding those that are done by the local government units ( LGUs) in the smaller waterways. I hope that this data could be eventually uploaded online, for everyone concerned to see.

As required by national laws, all LGUs are supposed to produce their own Comprehensive Land Use Plans ( CLUPs) that are supposed to be renewed every 10 years. As I understand it, most of these CLUPs are static in nature, and may have not used the newer technologies for Geographic Information Systems ( GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

If only GIS and GPS would be used for CLUPs, it would not only become interactive, it would also become dynamic. Considering the pervasiveness of cell phones in this country, it would also be good if the CLUPs would have some form of mobile integration, so that more users could access the data from more device options./