The current water shortage in Metro Manila will not simply go away even if the rainy season comes in late June or early July. The rainy season will provide a respite but the shortage will reemerge every year during the dry season, unless the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System finds a new source of raw water to augment the supply from Angat and Ipo Dam in Norzagaray in Bulacan province.
The MWSS is mainly to be blamed for the water crisis. The agency dilly-dallied for too long in identifying the next major source of raw water. It is doing the same now despite several offers from the private sector and the hardship being suffered by residents in Metro Manila and nearby towns.
The MWSS should be decisive in dealing with the problem at hand, instead of clinging to one prospective project that is taking forever to implement. Businessman Enrique Razon Jr., for one, offered a practical solution to the water crisis. His company, Prime Metroline Infrastructure Holdings Inc., plans to develop the Wawa catchment area in Rodriguez, Rizal as a source of more than 500 million liters of potable water per day.
The old gravity Wawa Dam, built in 1909 during the American occupation of the Philippines, had provided the water needs of Manila. It was the only source of water for the metropolis until the construction of Angat Dam in 1968. Wawa was abandoned as a water source in the same year.
Mr. Razon was forthright in his offer. He says the Wawa option is not an immediate fix, but rather a medium-to-long-term solution. He says the project is one of the fastest and most sustainable ways to solve the current water crisis, adding that if the government does not act now, the shortage will be a recurring problem.
Water experts have long cited Wawa as the best potential water supply source for Metro Manila. The dam is close to Metro Manila and is relatively easy to develop, unlike large-scale reservoirs that can submerge several barangays, displace people and sow unrest.
The MWSS, perhaps, should delegate the responsibility of developing other sources of raw water to the private sector to speed things up. The agency's inaction in the past has worsened the problem.