Green group eyes long-term solution to water shortage

ANGELES CITY — Environmentalists have vowed to pursue longterm solution to the water shortage being experienced by several villages here.

Renato “Abong” Tayag Jr, executive director of Sibul Foundation, has identified the first method to be the protection of the Sapang Bato Water Shed Area.

The House of Representatives, through House Bill 6201, declared the Sapang Bato Water Shed as a protected area and ecopark, according to Tayag.

Some 400 hectares of land were allotted for reforestation in order to protect the area under the Sapangbato Watershed Protection Act of 2017, he said.

Sapang Bato is a mountainous village at the upstream portion of Angeles City to the East which is adjacent to Clark Freeport and Porac t ow n.

It is a natural watershed that has the potential to produce water for the entire Metro Clark area and its environs in the next 50 years.

A study conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the BPI Foundation stated that Angeles City’s population increased by 38 percent in the past 20 year s.

The city’s population density has also grown from 3,807per square kilometer to 5,249 per square kilometer.

The local business grew by 42 percent from 2005 to 2012 while the housing industry escalated from 54,059 in 2000 to 72,791 in 2010.

The increase in the number of commercial and industrial activities resulted to more number of people are using energy and water.

The Japan International Cooperatin Agency (JICA), in its study conducted in 2010, stated that nine major cities in the Philippines including Angeles City were listed as “water-critical areas.”

Former City Councilor Louie T. Reyes, head of the Green Youth Brigade, for his part said that another long-term solution to the water crisis is the erection of ram pumps.

The natural water system will ensure the sustainability of water supply, according to Reyes.

Reyes said he has tapped a firm to conduct a survey and study which will determine if ram pumps will work in Sapang Bato.

All ram pumps works in the principle of momentum, which is controlled by a cycle set up by the interaction of two valves – an impetus valve and a flapper valve – in the pump.