Central Luzon rivers can't handle water from dams

The head of an environmental group on Friday called on the government to implement planned flood-mitigation projects, particularly in the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan which are being ravaged by floods. Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, chief executive officer of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines, said the government's strategy of releasing waters from nearby dams simply do not work anymore and are not "climate smart." Tan defined "climate smart" as any strategy which addresses impending climate issues such as intense rainfall, rise of sea levels, sea acidification and stronger typhoons. "It seems apparent to me that the current practice of using existing rivers along the Bulacan bayshore to discharge excess dam water is not climate smart," Tan told GMA News Online. "Although we cannot control rainfall, we can manage water flow," he added. Residents in various towns in Bulacan and Pampanga had no choice Thursday night but to retreat to their rooftops as flood waters rose following the release of water from various dams in Central Luzon in preparation for oncoming storms.

Tan pointed out that there have been many plans — such as the Pampanga River Basin Plan — to quell rising floodwaters in the area during strong typhoons, but lamented that such plans remain unimplemented. He added that various studies conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have for so long pointed out the need to establish new waterways in the area in order to prevent further flooding. "Alam na nila na malakas ang ulan, na hindi na kaya ng dating ilog, bakit hindi gumawa ng floodway sa Bulacan?" he stressed. "Sa baba [ng watershed], maliban sa dredging na ginagawa ng gobyerno, bakit hindi dagdagan ng daanan ng tubig?" he added. Tan said that the establishment of various detention and retention basins around the area would be a more long-term solution to help contain the flow of rainwater and prevent affecting nearby communities. A detention basin is an area where excess stormwater is temporarily stored and then gradually released once the receiving water channels start receding. A retention basin, on the other hand, stores excess water permanently for other uses in the future. He said these basins only take a year to construct but could last a long time. Likening the basin to a water pitcher, Tan said the "shape" of the water management system in Pampanga and Bulacan has to be altered given that it can no longer contain and efficiently manage the amount of water being poured into it. But the bottom line, he stressed, is that Metro Manila stands to lose should the present system continue given its water and food dependence on nearby provinces. "Central Luzon feeds Manila. We cannot ignore this," he stressed. - HS/ELR, GMA News