PHP 1 billion boosts Project NOAH flood forecasting

MANILA – A fresh PHP 1 billion government allocation for Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, or Project NOAH, is expected to strengthen the country’s flood forecasting, hazard monitoring, and disaster-risk-reduction systems as increasingly severe weather tests communities and infrastructure.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed the Department of Budget and Management to release the funding to the University of the Philippines System, which operates Project NOAH through the UP Resilience Institute, or UPRI.

Mahar Lagmay, UPRI executive director and a UP geology professor, said the additional resources will allow Project NOAH to focus on improving flood management, hazard monitoring, and disaster-risk-reduction systems as the Philippines confronts the effects of climate change.

In media interviews over the weekend, Lagmay said he hopes that the government’s funding “will continue to transform scientific knowledge into practical action that protects lives and helps build safer, more resilient, and sustainable communities.”

The funding is also expected to strengthen impact-based forecasting developed by Project NOAH researchers using years of historical information, satellite images, rainfall data, and other datasets.

Impact-based forecasting goes beyond predicting weather conditions by identifying how flooding could affect specific communities, infrastructure, transportation networks, and other exposed areas.

The administration has framed the new Project NOAH funding as part of a broader push for data-driven governance, particularly in the use of scientific information for public infrastructure and disaster-prevention investments.

The approach is also intended to help the Department of Public Works and Highways assess flood-management interventions using hazard maps, terrain data, and modeled flood behavior before projects are implemented.

Founded in 2012, Project NOAH seeks to assist the government in disaster-risk reduction and management, climate-change adaptation and mitigation, and related activities through research, development, and extension services.

Science-backed infrastructure projects

The Department of Public Works and Highways has begun laying the technical foundation for future science-backed flood-management infrastructure as the government seeks to strengthen long-term disaster preparedness and climate-change-risk response nationwide.

At Marcos’ directive to improve nationwide flood resilience, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon ordered the updating of all flood-management master plans to better protect communities from recurring large-scale flooding.

The DPWH is working with UPRI’s Project NOAH, local government units, and other partner agencies to incorporate detailed hazard maps and scientific data into the updated plans before infrastructure projects are implemented.

The government has said the revisions are necessary because older flood-management plans may no longer adequately reflect changing climate conditions and present-day development patterns.

On Sept. 2, Marcos said the government was implementing a flood-control master plan that had existed for decades but had not been carried out.

“We already have a master plan. It’s just never been executed. We are only executing it now,” President Marcos told reporters after inspecting repair works at a collapsed bridge in Tarlac.

“We have had a master plan for decades pero walang ginawa. Ngayon lang natin sinisimulan (but nothing was done. We are only starting it now),” the President said.

The President made the remarks as Central Luzon, Metro Manila, and other parts of Luzon grappled with widespread flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains.

The administration has repeatedly called on national government agencies to pursue long-term flood-control measures, including declogging and dredging waterways, improving drainage systems, and strengthening land-use planning.

The measures form part of the government’s response to increasingly intense rainfall and worsening flood risks associated with climate change.

NOAH aims for faster, more accurate forecasting

Lagmay said Project NOAH’s impact-based forecasting system is projected to provide one-day advance forecasts identifying where flooding could occur and estimating possible effects on roads, homes, buildings, and vehicular movement.

“The P1 billion allocation for UPRI will be measured by better information, transparency, evidence-based governance and decision-making, effective flood management, and reduced disaster risks and losses,” Lagmay said.

Of the PHP 1 billion allocation, PHP 935 million will support research services.

The remaining PHP 65 million will finance general management and supervision of Project NOAH’s implementation.

The allocation forms part of the UP System’s built-in appropriation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

Lagmay said the UPRI budget will finance high-resolution mapping of major river basins, hazard assessments, land-use planning, and Oplan Kontra Baha initiatives.

Those initiatives will be undertaken in coordination with the DPWH, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, local government units, and private-sector partners.

The allocation will also finance Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR, drone topographic surveys.

It will support capacity-building programs involving state universities and colleges.

Other activities covered by the funding include native tree mapping, sediment erosion assessments, mapping of hidden waterways, and the development of nature-based solutions.

Project NOAH will also expand the use of artificial intelligence and analytics for disaster-risk management.

UP President Angelo Jimenez described the Marcos administration’s funding for UPRI as “an investment in the power of research and innovation to serve the nation.”

“We do research because knowledge matters, and knowledge matters most when it can help us make better decisions, solve real problems, and improve the lives of our people,” Jimenez emphasized.