Plenty of water but not enough-2

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

In the water summit convened by the Occidental Negros provincial government I commented yesterday, 3^rd district congressman, Rep. Francisco Benitez said that the “supply of water is not infinite” and that “it is increasingly threatened by unregulated economic activity.” The fact is that water on this planet is always there. It is never exhausted otherwise through thousands of millennia the world shall have gone dry and without water all life on earth dies.

What is finite is our capacity to secure them for our subsistence because of many factors. Rep. Benitez, for instance, cited the wastage that costs money. He said, “high non-revenue water levels prevent water utilities from recovering their investments and generate income that should be used to improve infrastructure and expand delivery”. He did not mention the other factors like corruption and incompetence which are the major reasons for the huge non-revenue percentage.

Why is there a big percentage of water coming out of the pipes and not generating income? For one mismanagement because the water districts are not enforcing a strict system of checking leakages and collection. There are water thieves and illegal water connections and leaking pipes. There is another that more pernicious – illegal sale of water.

Let me cite one – water that ships and barges draw from the water district pipeline. The operators that probably are insiders allow tankers to connect to fire hydrants. The water is sold to the ships and, a friend in the water business said, even to commercial buildings that have large underground storage where they draw their supply.

Have you ever wondered where the large buildings and malls draw their water when ordinary households are suffering from insufficient supply? Of course, it is not within the jurisdiction of Cong. Benitez, but this matter needs to be investigated by the proper authorities that the good congressman can initiate even on a provincial level because preferential or even illegal connections by big enterprises happen.

Rep. also cited the obvious. He said, “Extraction of forest resources, conversion of forest to agricultural land and growth of human settlements have caused the massive deforestation of the Bago Watershed, the Northern Negros Natural Park and the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park which provide ecosystem services to surrounding communities.”

To a very large extent, we are indebted to the vigilance of the provincial government that illegal logging had been severely curtailed, and we now see the greener mountains that divide the two provinces of Negros. Never had we seen these mountain ranges as green as they were since they were ravaged by the Insular Lumber Company and other logging concessions. Mt. Silay and Mt. Marapara were practically denuded by American artillery fires during World War II.

He said, “In 2010 the total forest cover in the three sites was 19.2 percent of the total land area” which is much better than in the 1990s when satellite images showed we had only 6 or 7% forest cover.

Nevertheless, he suggested that the provincial government should “strengthen efforts to reverse the degradation of watersheds and protect traditional water sources. We should increase our forest cover by planting endemic tree species, and conserve ecosystems by engaging communities to take part in protecting our forests.” He added that “We must address these issues and be prepared to mitigate the aggravating impact of climate change on water supply.”

The next issue is whether our local governments are convinced and are they willing to address these concerns regardless of other considerations.

The role of the water districts is paramount but the top leadership of these districts, the board of directors, are beholden to the appointing powers which are the mayors. We know that appointments to these boards supposedly is by recommendations of certain sectors of the community, but the reality is that the posts are political rewards.

This is not to belittle or cast doubts on the capabilities of the directors but only to point out the importance of their choice in relation to the plan of the province to address the water issues.

On the shoulders of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson who thanked Benitez for setting in motion the Negros Water Summit, lies the initiative for the solon’s proposals. This is the first time in memory that a province-wide discussion on our water security was given serious attention.

Continued on Monday.