Government agencies are joining forces to stave off a possible water crisis brought on by El Niño, the weather phenomenon characterized by below-normal rainfall that can lead to dry spells and drought and is projected to start in the second half of this year.
This developed as Sen. Grace Poe said Monday the water crisis is avoidable if the correct policies are in place and are being implemented.
The National Water Resources Board is coordinating with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, National Irrigation Administration, and other agencies for contingency plans that will prevent a repeat of the water crisis in 2019, its top official said.
That year, tens of thousands of households in Metro Manila began to lose water supplies, and the water level at dams serving the megacity fell below their critical level of 69 meters above sea level (masl).
Last week, water firm Maynilad also warned its customers in the National Capital Region and Cavite of possible water interruptions for as long as 19 hours a day.
Meanwhile, a low-pressure area spotted east of the country is likely to develop into a tropical depression, the first typhoon in 2023, the state weather bureau said.
The LPA was last seen 890 kilometers east of the Visayas. Once it develops into a tropical depression, the storm would be named “Amang.”
“This weather disturbance may develop into a tropical depression as it moves generally westward towards the Southern Luzon-Visayas area over the Philippine Sea,” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration bulletin stated.
PAGASA said the LPA will bring light to moderate to at times heavy rains over Eastern Visayas and Caraga.
Meanwhile, Poe said the coming of El Nino is a predictable phenomenon, which should have kept water authorities and concessionaires on their toes to prepare for contingency measures.
“Instead, we are confronted with the same old scenarios during this season of the year – dry taps, parched soil, below normal dam levels, long queues of pails,” noted the chairperson of the Senate committee on public services.
But NWRB executive director Sevillo D. David Jr. said in a TeleRadyo interview: “I think we are more prepared than before. More facilities are now in place at Laguna Lake than in 2019.”
“We need to save water and recycle and be responsible about water use. All leaks should be fixed,” he added.
Climate projections by PAGASA earlier showed that El Niño will begin by the third quarter of 2023 or between July and September and will last until next year.
El Niño is the warm phase of the naturally occurring climate pattern El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), marked by changes in wind direction and sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.
Angat Dam, which supplies 96 percent of Metro Manila’s water needs, is currently at 199.37 meters, which is still at operating level, the NWRB official said.
While there are many water-related agencies, Poe said there is a “drought of common goals” that would set clear directions and actions toward water security for all Filipinos.
By this time, the senator said they expect the Water Resources Management Office “to get its feet wet” amid the water shortage being felt by households, businesses, and the agriculture sector.
At the Senate, Poe assured senators will remain steadfast in pushing for the creation of the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
She said the DWR will be a permanent body that will lead the comprehensive development and management of water resources to once and for all end our people’s perennial water woes.