The House of Representatives adopted House Resolutions 2547 and 2548 creating a technical working group on water shortage mitigation and to formulate a water security master plan to secure and sustain the supply of water for household, commercial and industrial use in Metro Manila that may be implemented in other parts of the country, respectively.
HR 2547 and 2548, authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Committee on Metro Manila Development Chairman Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City, aim to avoid the recurrence of water shortages in Metro Manila.
The National Capital Region and Region III obtain most of their water from Angat Dam, a hydroelectric dam in Bulacan that may no longer sustain the needs of the regions in the coming years.
The resolutions stress the significance of water in the Philippines, noting that agriculture is the biggest user of water at 80 percent.
The recent water crisis faced by Manilans served as an eye-opener that urged government regulators to be more proactive in addressing water service problems, especially in the dry season.
The measures also recognize that water sources, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs and rainfall, are currently being threatened by pollution caused by human tampering, intense consumption due to urbanization, inefficient use, natural disasters that damage dams and waterways with debris and contaminants, man-made disasters such as war and terrorism and climate change.
HR 2547 seeks to direct the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the National Water Resources Board, the Local Water Utilities Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the National Irrigation Administration, the Manila Water Company Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. to form a TWG to prepare and implement water shortage mitigation strategies.
These strategies would include cloud seeding by the DA, cross-border sharing, recycling of used water, arresting the causes/sources of non-revenue water and exploration of new water resources and technology.
The resolution also prods the government and the private sector to work together to achieve a common goal of sufficient and sustainable water supply through a holistic and feasible plan.
Meanwhile, HR 2548 particularly calls for the MWSS, the MWSS Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO), the NWRB, the LWUA, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management, the NIA, the MWCI and the MWSI to put together a water security plan to identify sustainable water sources for the growing water supply requirements as soon as possible.