SO WHERE have all those floodwaters gone?
Dried up in the other towns, but still much around in Masantol and Macabebe.
The twin towns – as much for their shared boundaries and unique take on the language as for their sibling hizzoners – now lie notches below sea level.
No, the sea did not simply rise overnight and swamped the coastal communities. The towns literally sank due to excessive extraction of groundwater.
So it was revealed at last week’s water summit called by Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda and participated in by the mayors, officials of the local water utilities, and other stakeholders with the Engineering and Development Corporation of the Philippines and Mines and Geosciences Bureau serving as resource speakers.
Land subsidence – that’s what’s the Masantol-Macabebe sinking is called – is by no means the only effect of the over-extraction of groundwater. Other adversities arising from it include the deterioration of water quality, drying up of wells, increased pumping cost, reduction in surface water and adverse environmental impact – all these already obtaining in Pampanga.
A crisis in the making here, cried 4th District Board Member Nestor Tolentino, chair of the environment and natural resources committee of the sangguniang panlalawigan, as he called for proper water management in the province.
With almost all of Pampanga’s potable water supply sourced from the ground, it is estimated that by 2025 – only 14 years from now – over half of the province’s towns and cities will be at high risk of groundwater shortage.
And Masantol-Macabebe sinking further along with some other towns in the second and fourth districts. The rate of land subsidence in the province is put at 1.0 centimeters to 2.5 centimeters annually.
So what is there to do?
For starters, the governor has requested the local water utilities and industries using huge volumes of groundwater to submit their respective profiles “as soon as possible.”
Tolentino says the profiles “will include their projected pipeline expansions and current water utilization which will help us determine the necessary interventions.”
“This will also allow us to draw up plans for maximum use of surface water, avert flooding, minimize land subsidence and enhance environmental management,” he added.
Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo has a ready solution to any scarcity of potable water supply – tap the Candaba Swamp as source.
“While there may be scarcity in groundwater, we have plenty of surface water. The Candaba Swamp can provide for the needs not only of Pampanga but also that of neighboring provinces and the northern part of Metro Manila,” the congressman-wannabe said.
With the swamp’s estimated natural retention capacity of 1.5 billion cubic meters, Pelayo adumbrated – okay, Ronnie T, outlined – a 1,000-hectare reservoir at the swamp which could also serve as a year-round fishing ground for the Candaba folk, and source of irrigation water for the farmlands of Bulacan and Pampanga.
Tapping surface water, especially the Pampanga River, has long been in the agenda of Governor Pineda.
Only last September, the provincial government signed a memorandum of understanding with Maynilad Water Services for a study of the water resources of the province, specifically on the safety and quality of water and the increasing demand for potable drinking water for the residents as well as for industrial use.
The study is also expected to affirm earlier studies that almost 90 percent of Pampanga’s surface water remains untapped.
Reports of Maynilad doing a study on the water resources of Pampanga gave rise to speculations that the Manny Pangilinan-owned company wanted not just a foothold but control of potable water supply in the province.
“So what’s wrong with Maynilad operating in Pampanga?” quipped Deng Pangilinan, chair of the nationally multi-awarded Mabalacat Water District. “If that means improving the supply and quality of water in the province.”
Pangilinan believed Maynilad had the sole capacity and resources to tap surface water as potable water supply, as “investing in a plant that shall turn river water into drinking water amounts to hundreds of millions of pesos.”
“Maynilad can well serve as principal water supplier, with the local water districts as outlets. The infrastructure for delivery is already laid out, all we need to do is tap onto Maynilad’s main pipes in such a scenario,” visualized Deng.
Pangilinan also proposed that government impose a “water-extraction fee” on industries like breweries and soda bottling plants, which he said are “heavy extractors” of groundwater.
This, even as he recommended that the Water Board, which is based in Manila, hand over to the local water utilities the issuance of permits to extract groundwater in their respective areas.
“As it is now, we at the local water utilities are just furnished copies of the permits and have no hand in controlling the extraction of groundwater by private entities. It will be best for stakeholders to allow local water utilities in Pampanga to have control in groundwater extraction for us to effectively help in water resource management.”
Yet another brilliant suggestion coming from Pangilinan is a moratorium on the construction of golf courses in the province especially at the Clark Freeport Zone which is Pampanga’s principal watershed:
“Golf courses are heavy users of groundwater, at the rate they are going, they pose the greatest danger to water supply.”
Did I just hear Atty. Felipe Antonio Remollo, the Clark Development Corp. president-CEO, shout “Fore”?
