Group presses local solutions to water issues

With the supply of clean and potable fresh water soon to be a matter of serious concern in the country’s 122 cities and 1,489 municipalities, a group said local government units (LGUs) should be empowered to address issues involving water supply and distribution as well as waste water management.

Speaking at the 65th General Assembly of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) in Taguig on Tuesday, Philippine Water Partnership chairman Nathaniel Santos said mayors nationwide expressed an overwhelming sentiment during a series of consultations and roundtable discussions organized by PWP that the local officials should be given more authority to decide and act on matters that pertains to providing their constituents with clean water.

“Decentralization just makes sense – for our constituents, for our environment, and for our country,” Santos said.

The PWP is a non-government organization affiliated with the Global Water Partnership, which assists the government and provides a neutral venue for discussions on integrated water resources management.

“One mayor from Bicol succinctly summed it up: water is a local concern that requires a local solution,” Santos said.

Datus from the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) showed that the total annual freshwater resources in the Philippines amounts to around 149.5 billion cubic meters per year, while annual consumption, according to the World Bank, is estimated at 81.6 billion cubic meters.

Santos said that “while at present there appears to be a comfortable annual supply of fresh water, it is not always available where and when it is needed.”

He warned that in 1998, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the NWRB projected that Metro Manila and eight major cities – including Davao, Baguio, Angeles and Bacolod – may be experiencing water shortages due to “resource degradation, increase in population and rapid urbanization.”

Santos said with the Duterte administration focused on bringing development to the regions outside Metro Manila and on pushing for the adoption of federalism, it is necessary for LGUs to become better equipped to deal with the increasing demands for water.

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