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| Forester Gregorio Santos Jr. explains the rainweater harvesting technology during the Ilocos Norte Water Summit. (Photo by Alaric Yanos) |
Staff reporter
Laoag
City—As Ilocos Norte gears for global
industrialization to solidify its vision in becoming the country’s best little
province by 2020, local officials and residents here are now formulating ways
to conserve water which is expected to be the next big problem if not properly
managed as early as now.
Aside from the development of
natural faucets as source of potable water to its growing population in the
Metro Ilocos area, a simple old technology that seems to have been taken for
granted in the past now proves its relevance in today’s limited supply that
leads to water shortage due to unabated population increase, conversion of farmlands
to commercial and residential uses including the construction of various
large-scale infrastructure projects in forestland areas across the province.
Forester Gregorio Santos Jr.,
a senior science research specialist of the Ecosystem Research and Development
Bureau under the umbrella of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) in Laguna told participants during the first Ilocos Norte
Water Summit held at the Laoag City auditorium on Nov. 27 that the
largest faucet to supply the need of this province’s increasing population and
development can be tapped through rainwater harvesting.
Rainwater harvesting means
capturing rainwater where it falls for production purposes.
Citing the earth’s water
supply which comprises 97.5 percent of salt water and just 2.5 percent fresh
water for human use, Mr. Santos said the importance of rainwater harvesting
should not be taken for granted.
In a point of fact, he said
there is a growing appreciation of this simple technology, which is now being
practiced all over the Philippines particularly in upland and rural areas such
as in Benguet, Ifugao, Pangasinan, Batanes, Zamboanga, and in indigenous
communities which experience water shortage during the prolonged dry season.
As rain water can be
stored for direct use or can be recharged into the ground water aquifer, Mr. Santos
said there are various methods and designs where Ilocanos may consider should
they opt to apply the said technology.
Among these methods for
example include the use of house roofing as a catchment area with a storage
tank and faucet for domestic use, construction of spring box with a
distribution pipe to cater to small communities or the construction of water
impounding dams to sustain farm productivity.
In Ilocos Norte, various
farmers’ organizations in cooperation with their respective local government
units are now constructing and nurturing existing small water impounding dams
as catch basin for rain water to irrigate mostly rain-fed farmlands in the
province.
“We can survive without food
for three days but not without water because our body is composed of 70 percent
water,” said Mr. Santos as he stressed it is now the call of all stakeholders
in Ilocos Norte to ensure the management of their water resources given the
alternatives and proven practices of wise water utilization.
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