Palace working on EO to better manage fragmented water sector

AMID the water crisis felt by residents and business establishments in Metro Manila, the government revealed it is currently working on an executive order (EO) that would allow government to properly address the water issues in the country.

The Office of the Cabinet Secretary said on Wednesday the proposed EO aims to “address the fragmentation in the water sector by providing the framework for an integrated and coordinated effort in planning and implementing the programs and projects to address all issues in the water sector.”

At least 32 agencies are in the water sector, with different offices involved in the various aspects of the IWRM.

The Economic Cluster led by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III already vetted the EO so the EO now will be vetted by the Cabinet Assistance System (CAS) led by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

“Even before parts of National Capital Region suffered water supply problems, the Economic Cluster and the Cabinet Assistance System was already working on an issuance that would help the government better resolve the many issues involving the supply and distribution of water,” Nograles said in a statement.

Nograles added the interagency efforts were prompted by policy issues that were unearthed in the process of finalizing the 20172022 Philippine Development Plan.

“If you go through the PDP, you will see that it admits that despite the country’s abundant water resources, there are issues in

“If you go through the PDP, you will see that it admits that despite the country’s abundant water resources, there are issues in the development, utilization and management of water-related services.” —Nograles

the development, utilization and management of water-related services,” Nograles said.

According to the Palace official, the issues include:

(1) limited operationalization of integrated water resources management (IWRM) in many of the country’s river basins and watersheds, which results in the resources’ suboptimal use and wastage and uncoordinated plans, projects and programs;

(2) quantifying the extent of many issues in the water resources sector (i.e., water resource availability or lack thereof, water stress levels, inefficiency in use, over/ underutilization of resources, groundwater pollution, land subsidence, saltwater intrusion, etc.), thus the challenges involved in proper planning and management given the lack of available updated, consolidated, and/or harmonized data; and

(3) access to safe water supplies due to the uneven distribution of freshwater sources.

“The administration knows that these issues have to be addressed and we know the fundamental challenges involved. Our priority now is to provide the President with a way to resolve these issues, and we should be threshing out the details in the next few days,” said Nograles.

Hasten Kaliwa Dam MEANWHILE, in a separate development, Dominguez also said on Wednesday that the water crisis sends a strong signal to hasten the construction of the Kaliwa Dam.

“Absolutely. Yeah, in fact, this had been done before the water crisis would be much less serious or much less of a threat,” he said.

Asked if he will recommend steps for the construction to be faster than its original pace, Dominguez said: “Well the process of bidding out and awarding is well on its way and I’m sure the MWSS [Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System] will urge their contractors to move faster than originally planned.”

On Tuesday, Manila Water Company Inc. explained that the unusually huge demand for water because of “El Niño” and the limited allocation for the water concessionaire are behind the current supply shortage being experienced by consumers within its concession area.

While waiting for the Kaliwa Dam project, Manila Water assured the public that it is currently boosting supply from Laguna de Bay and is stepping up deep well projects to get water from other sources.

Prior to this, Sen. Grace Poe has also warned that the country is facing a looming water crisis, prodding the government to “be more proactive in addressing the problem by adopting a radical approach in tackling existing problems or shortcomings” in the water-supply system.”