AS IT IS now, water management in the provinces is already localized, by way of the Local Water Districts (LWDs).
The problem is these LWDs are only functioning in the distribution side, and not in the generation and transmission sides.
As I see it, our water management system should follow what we are doing in energy management, and that is the division of functions between generation, transmission and distribution.
As I understand it, most of our LWDs are largely dependent on dams for their supply of water, and they are not doing much generation except to pump out the water from these dams. Sad to say, these LWDs are not even thinking of generating water through wastewater recycling, rainwater collection, saltwater desalination, or through groundwater extraction.
Even if we could say that dams are reliable sources of water, that is actually a dead end option, because when the dams dry up or go down in water levels, then we would have no alternative choices.
Based on recent news reports, our water security is already threatened, because we are now solely dependent on rain to fill up our dams, meaning to say that if there is no rain, there is no water. Some might say that this is already a given, that if there is no rain there is no water, but that is not really exactly true.
Water is a resource that is all over us, except that we have to generate it to make it clean and potable. In a manner of speaking, water is just like energy that is all over us, except that we have to generate it to make it available and usable.
The organizational structure of our local water and energy management is different from each other. The LWDs are actually like quasi-government entities, being supposedly under the control of the Local Government Units (LGUs).
The Local Electric Cooperatives (LECs) are supposed to be private entities that are owned by local residents, but in reality, most of these LECs are under the direct control of the National Electrification Administration (NEA). Based on the division of functions in energy management, these LECs are assigned the task of distribution, and as it is now, very few of them are involved in generation and transmission.
Even if it is very difficult to see the direct connection, reforestation is actually the missing link between water generation and power generation. We already know that trees have the capability to hold water in their roots and because of that; they are able to store water that would eventually drip down to the water bodies and aquifers in the lowlands.
However, recent studies show that trees also emit moisture into the atmosphere that eventually becomes the clouds that ultimately fall as rain. Of course, we know that trees are not the only source of moisture that goes up into the atmosphere, but suffice it to say that they contribute much of it.
The same studies also show a direct correlation between the lack of trees and the incidence of droughts, and that is simply because the lack of trees would cause the lack of rain, hence the lack of water that causes the droughts. (To be continued/PN)
