Water crisis a wake-up call, climate body says

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) said the prevailing water crisis must serve as a serious wake-up call to the public about the importance of water conservation. CCC Vice Chairman Heherson Alvarez said on Thursday the water shortage must compel the public to intensify efforts to conserve water and protect our country’s river basins. Alvarez said the public must become more conscious about how they can avoid wasting water. “Failure to address global warming and climate change could lead to more horrible water problems like flash floods, drought and water supply shortage for domestic use," Alvarez pointed out. “We should conserve water in any way that we can," Alvarez also said. The greater part of Metro Manila is currently experiencing water supply shortage as Angat Dam’s water level critically fell 22.21 meters below the 180 meters. Many areas now depend on water rationing, as water utility companies implement scheduled water service interruptions that affect not only households but businesses as well. Alvarez, a former Senator and Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources(DENR), further said that management for river basin system including watersheds, forests, mangroves and rivers should be strengthened to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Alvarez explained that according to the latest science, a forest is not only a fallback for floods or even drought, but is also considered a “carbon sink," a natural reservoir that can be a defense against climate change. River basins are bodies of land drained by a river and its tributaries. A river basin sends all the water falling on the land into a central river and out to the sea. The CCC is pushing for a “River Basin Management Strategy," under its National Framework Strategy on Climate Change program, as a way to protect and manage water. Angat Dam, which supplies 97 percent of the water needs of Metro Manilans, receives its water supply from the Ipo watershed, an area presently 70 percent denuded. The damage is attributed to illegal logging, slash and burn farming or kaingin, charcoal making, and the expansion of informal settlers in the area. The remaining 30 percent of the Ipo watershed, meanwhile, is threatened by intensified logging and kaingin activities. –VVP, GMANews.TV