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Philippines has an average
By: JANE SAMEJON MALASADOR
AE 135 Adviser
 Watersheds have been subjected to various forms of
degradation such as indiscriminate logging and slash-
and-burn practices (kaingin), with the resulting loss of
forest cover from 17 million hectares in 1934 to only about
5.33 million hectares in most recent estimates (LGSP,
2003).
 But if properly managed, watersheds can provide a
continuing flow of water to a particular water body (e.g.
river, creeks and streams) and to man-made “water use
outlets” such as dams, irrigation systems, or water supply
take-off points.
Conservation Ethics
 Nature should be used to provide the greatest good for the
greatest number of people for the longest time.
 Leads to the idea of sustainable development where we
meet current needs without compromising future
generations to meet their own needs.
 Development that best meets present and future needs
without damaging the environment and biological
diversity.
annual rainfall of about 2,400
mm which is enough to meet
the annual water demand for
crop production. However, this
amount of rainfall is not evenly
distributed throughout the year
in most parts of the country.
Some areas, have “too much”
rainfall, resulting to excessive
surface runoff, severe erosion,
siltation of rivers, and flooding
during the rainy season. And in
other parts of the country, have
“too little” to provide a
sustained base flow to support
crop production especially
during the dry season,
particularly in the upland areas.
 Moreover, about 45% of the arable lands in
the Philippines have been moderately to
severely eroded. Approximately 5.2 M
hectares are severely eroded and 8.5 M
hectares are moderately eroded resulting to
30-50% reduction in soil productivity and
water retention capacity.
 The conservation ethic is sometimes
expressed by the four R's: “Reduce, Recycle,
Reuse, Rethink." It relates to local
purchasing, moral purchasing, the sustained
and efficient use of renewable resources, the
moderation of destructive use of finite
resources, and the prevention of harm to
common resources such as air and water
quality, the natural functions of a living
earth, and cultural values in a built
environment.
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Soil Erosion Control Soil Erosion Control

 Essential to maintain the crop productivity  Reforestation
of the soil as well as to control
 Terracing
sedimentation and pollution in streams and
lakes.  Multiple cropping
 Coir mats  Contouring
 Woven geotextiles  Cover cropping
 Non-woven geotextiles  Sloping Agricultural Land Technology

Coir mats
Reforestation

Terracing

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Drainage
 Essential to reclaim saline and sodic
soils by leaching and to prevent
salinity problems by maintaining a
low water table.

 Essential for permanent irrigated

agriculture.

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Drainage/Sewerage
 Most Philippine cities have drainage systems.  Greywater (wastewater from sinks, showers
and washing) is generally discharged
 There are no separate storm water and waste
untreated into the drainage system.
water (sewerage) systems.
 Wastewater from septic systems freely mixes
with the storm water. In practice this is not  Sometimes the drainage system is more or
as bad as it sounds as the volume of storm less underground and sometimes it is open
water is large and may well flush out the concrete ditches.
drainage system and its contents into the
streams and rivers.

 During heavy rainfalls with improper and

outdated drainage systems in the
Philippines, flood or flash flood is always
been experienced anywhere in the country
where thousands of lives and millions of
properties are lost every year. Moreover,
population growth, inadequate
infrastructure, corruption, deforestation
and even trash build-up combine to
exacerbate the impact.

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Irrigation
 Provides one of the greatest opportunities
for increasing crop production as well as
improving germination, controlling air
temperature, and applying chemicals with
the irrigation water.
 Irrigation in the Philippines is of great
importance.
Three Types of Irrigation System
National Irrigation Systems
(NIS)
Communal Irrigation Systems
(CIS)
Private Irrigation Systems (PIS)
9/30/2020
Less talk. More
action.
Irrigation System in the Philippines
 Philippines has about 10.3 million hectares
of agricultural land.
 3.1 million hectares are considered irrigable,
with up to three percent slope and primarily
devoted to rice and corn.
 6.1 million hectares as irrigable, including
areas that are relatively more difficult to
irrigate and up to eight percent slope.
NIS
 Large and medium irrigation schemes
basically operated and maintained by NIA
where beneficiaries are charged with
irrigation service fee for the services
rendered in the delivery of water.
 In the 1980s, joint management of portions
of national systems with irrigators (IA) took
effect.
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CIS
 Small scale schemes and constructed with the
PIS
participation of farmer-beneficiaries through their  Constructed, operated and maintained
IAs.
by private individuals or groups
 The operation and maintenance of CIS is turned
over to IAs upon project completion subject to a
without technical assistance by NIA or
cost recovery arrangement. other government agencies.
 Farmers amortize the chargeable cost for a period
not exceeding 50 years at zero per cent interest.
 The repayment scheme is pre-arranged and
acceptable to both NIA and the IA.

Comparison between the National and

Communal Irrigation Systems
National Irrigation Communal
For Comparison
System Irrigation System
Area (ha) > 1,000 < 1,000
NIA with farmers'
Implementation/construction NIA
participation
NIA and Irrigators Irrigators
Operation and maintenance
Associations Associations
Farmers pay irrigation
service fee Farmers pay
Water charges
per hectare/season/ amortization
crop
Purpose of water
Purpose of water charges Capital cost recovery
charges

Flood Control
 Flooding in upstream watersheds (less than
2,500 km2 in area) is the most significant
natural phenomena in terms of causing loss
of life, crops, and property as well a health
hazards, water pollution, and interruption
of services, such as transportation, utilities,
police, fire protection, and emergency
operations.

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Three Major Flooding Occurrences

 Huge volume of water coming from Sierra
Madre

 Drainage capacity constraints in core area of

Metro Manila

 Low-lying communities around Manila Bay

& Laguna Lake

 After the flood events of Ondoy and Pepeng  Structural Mitigation Measures:
in September and October 2009,
respectively that caused severe damages in
There are eleven (11) recommended
Metro Manila and Surrounding Areas, the
short-listed structural mitigation measures
World Bank has provided a Technical Grant
under the “Flood Management Master Plan
in the amount of $1.5 Million under the
for Metro Manila and Surrounding Areas”
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and
that will serve as the roadmap of the
Recovery Trust Fund of the Australian
Government, which is envisioned to be
Agency for International Development
implemented from today until 2035 (23 years).
(AusAID).

Non-Structural Measures: Name of Project Est. Cost (P’B)

1. Pasig-Marikina River Improvement and Dam Construction 198.435 B
 Strengthening of the Flood Information and Warning System
2. Meycauayan River Improvement 14.040 B
(FIWS)
 Effective Flood Control Operation and Warning System (EFCOS) 3. Malabon-Tullahan River Improvement 21.635 B
improvement 4. South Parañaque-Las Piñas River Improvement 17.335 B
 New telemetric rainfall and water level gauging stations
 Capacity Building for Strengthening Community-based FRM 5. East Mangahan Floodway (Cainta & Taytay River Improvement) 25.901 B
 Update and implement Information and Education Campaign (IEC) 6. West Laguna Lakeshore Land Raising 25.185 B
programs
7. Land Raising for Small Cities around Laguna Lakeshore 7.158 B
 Rainfall and water level monitoring by Barangay Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Councils (BDRRMCs) 8. Improvement of the Inflow Rivers to Laguna Lake 0.637 B
 Construction of evacuation routes and temporary evacuation centers 9. Manila Core Area Drainage Improvement 27.257 B
 Improvement of Management Information System (MIS) for
Disaster Risk Management 10. West Mangahan Area Drainage Improvement 5.522 B
 Improvement and development of MIS 11. Valenzuela-Obando-Meycauayan (VOM) Improvement
8.613 B
 Capacity building (to be studied further)
 Reforestation and Watershed Management
Total: P 351.718 B

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Development, Conservation, and

 As reported by APEC Philippines on
August 2015, The Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) has
completed 96 structural and non-
structural flood-mitigating projects for
National Capital Region (NCR),
Regions 3 and 4A, amounting to P4.9
billion.
Quality of Water Resources
 The Philippines obtains its water supply
from different sources. These include:
rainfall, surface water resources, i.e. rivers,
lakes, and reservoirs, and groundwater
resources. It has 18 major river basins and
421 principal river basins as defined by the
National Water Regulatory Board (NWRB ).

 The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources (BFAR) reports that there are 79
lakes in the country, mostly utilized for fish
production. Laguna Lake is the country’s
largest lake with a total area of 3,813.2 sq km
and is also one of the largest lakes in
Southeast Asia. Lake Lanao, the largest lake
in Mindanao, is one of the 17 ancient lakes
on earth (Environmental Management
Bureau, 2006).
 In terms of groundwater, the country has an
extensive groundwater reservoir with an
aggregate area of about 50,000 sq km. Data
from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau
(MGB) show that several groundwater
basins are underlay by about 100,000 sq km
of various rock formations.
 Groundwater resources are continuously
recharged by rain and seepage from rivers
and lakes.

 Ground water basins locations: Surface Water Quality

 Northeast Luzon
 Central Luzon
 Laguna Lake basin
 Cavite-Batangas-Laguna basin
 Southeast Luzon
 Mindoro Island
 Negros Island
 Northeast Leyte
 Ormoc-Kananga basin
 Agusan-Davao basin
 Occidental Misamis basin
 Lanao-Bukidnon-Misamis basin

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 The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) was
created in 1974 as the authoritative national
organization to coordinate and integrate all activities
in water resources development and management. Its
main objective is to achieve scientific and orderly
development and management of all the water
resources of the Philippines consistent with the
principles of optimum usage, conservation and
protection to meet present and future needs. The
mantle of authority of NWRB is derived from
Presidential Decree (PD) 424 (NWRC Charter), PD
1067 (Water Code of the Philippines) and PD 1206
(Water Utilities).
 Some of the water saved represents new supply
that can be dedicated to other uses.
 Saves money
 Protects drinking water resources
 Minimizes water pollution and health risks
 Reduces the need for costly water supply and
new wastewater treatment facilities
 Maintains the health of aquatic environments
 Saves energy used to pump, heat, and treat
water
Land Use and Crop Production
Crop Production Index 2013
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Impact of Conservation Practices on the
Environment
 adequately control soil erosion,
 help restore soil structure and fertility,
 efficient in food crop production,
 Planting new trees can help to reduce the
concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane
significantly contribute to a changing climate. Forest
are an effective, natural carbon sink, soaking up
much of the carbon emitted from burning fossil
fuels. Reversing global deforestation is a key element
of an effective mitigation strategy to fight global
warming.
 Irrigation can be detrimental by
increasing the salinity from drainage
water on flow downstream.
 The latest value for Crop production index (2004-
2006 = 100) in Philippines was 117.63 as of 2013.
Over the past 52 years, the value for this indicator
has fluctuated between 117.92 in 2012 and 29.83 in
1961. Crop production index shows agricultural
production for each year relative to the base period
2004-2006. It includes all crops except fodder
crops. Regional and income group aggregates for
the FAO's production indexes are calculated from
the underlying values in international dollars,
normalized to the base period 2004-2006.
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Population, Food and Fiber,
Energy, and Pollution Problems
 The Philippines has a population growth
rate of 2.04%, one of the highest in Asia.
According to the 2010 Census, the
population of the Philippines was
92,337,852. The population of the
Philippines was first estimated in 1830 with
2.5 million people. As of October 31, 2015, it
had reached over 102, 414, 325 population.
 No enough fresh water for the current
population to drink, but the air is getting
polluted with dust particles that contribute
to health problems.
 As the population grows, there is more
demand for certain plants: trees for paper,
food, plant fibers for clothing, etc.
 The greater the population, however, the
greater the demand for certain crops.
 The more people there are on the planet, the
more waste is being produced.
9/30/2020
Agricultural Production by Type of Crop 2010 – 2012 in Metric Tons/Hectare
 Probably the most serious of environmental
problems we face as humans is
overpopulation.
 continue to build more stores and houses is
that we are quickly running out of the
natural resources necessary to sustain the
population.
 Fresh water is one of the biggest concerns
with overpopulation, and this poses a huge
environmental threat.
 Some of this waste is quite toxic, and even
landfills which are double-lined are finding
that some toxic substances are leaching into
the soil and the groundwater supply.
 This poses even more of a risk to our
freshwater supply, and can contribute to the
decimation of many species sharing the
earth today.
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References
 Schwab et al., 1993. Soil and Water Conservation Engineering 4 th Edition. Conservation and the Environment pp 1-17.

 Lasco et al., 2006. Environmental impacts of community-based forest management in the Philippines. Int. J. Environment and Sustainable
Development, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006.

 C. M. Pascual et al, 2010. Impacts of Water Environment and Conservation for Sustainable Development in Northern Philippines. Sustainabilit y
in Food and Water Volume 18 of the series Alliance for Global Sustainability. Book series pp 381-389.

 Turning the Tide: Improving Water Resource Management in the Philippines, 2011. Senate of the Philippines.

 http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/08/23/1126031/whats-making-floods-worse-manila

 http://www.nia.gov.ph/activities.php?option=construction

 http://www.gov.ph/2015/07/31/dpwh-project-briefer-flood-management-master-plan/

 http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/Global/seasia/report/2007/10/the-state-of-water-in-the-phil.pdf

 http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/ab776e/ab776e03.htm

 http://www.tradingeconomics.com/philippines/agricultural-land-percent-of-land-area-wb-data.html

 http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_agri.asp

 http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/doc/counprof/Philippines/Philipp.htm

 http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/philippines/crop-production-index

 http://planetsave.com/2012/05/27/over-population-the-most-serious-environmental-problem-for-science/

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