THE Department of Public Works and Highways said casualties from floods will soon be minimized with the launching of its Steamflow Management System website that would monitor the flow of rivers during and after heavy rains.
The DPWH said that through monitoring of the flow of rivers in the event of heavy rains or typhoons, residents living in flood-prone areas would be immediately informed on the possible flooding to avoid casualty.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the department has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability for the project that will transform DPWH’s current stream flow data sets into digitized format.
The DPWH public portal will serve as a source of open data for monitoring and management of river flows in the country, incorporating measures to flood mitigation and management.
“For a while now, access to river flow information is limited and has been only available upon request. With the launching the SMS website, we will have accessible records and maps of river flow stations initially from river gauging stations in Regions 6, 8, 9, 10, and 12,” Singson said.
The SMS website, which will be handled by DPWH Bureau of Design – Water Projects Division (BOD-WPD), is expected to be fully operational by October 2016.
“It will eventually operate on a nationwide scale and will be beneficial in terms of water resource regulation, flood control and management, in localized disaster risk planning, and in coming up with water resources development plans across the country,” added Singson.
The USAID Be Secure Project was requested by DPWH to provide technical assistance in advancing the data gathering technology through the Streamflow Management System website.