First of two parts
LAST month, the United Nations made a declaration that humanity is now facing a “water bankruptcy” or a situation worse than a water crisis, with the release of the report titled “Global Water Bankruptcy, Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era.”
And what brought humanity to this situation?
In the case of the Philippines, there were calls many years back to take concerted action through a whole-of-nation approach to avoid a water crisis.
For example, in the summer of 2019, there were a number of water forums held with the aim of getting policy makers to enact laws or the relevant orders to avoid a water crisis.
The academic and the private sector also made numerous recommendations for the Philippines to avoid a water crisis.
Yours truly was invited to the discussion and forums to provide inputs to the recommendations and course of action from the context of agriculture. Among these are:
– Establish rainwater harvesting systems nationwide, so the heavy rainfall during the rainy season can be stored for dry season use.
– Build diversion canals that divert water to storage systems like dams, which can prevent or minimize flooding.
– Introduce aquifer recharging systems to replenish freshwater sources.
– Build more small water impounding systems (Swips) especially in areas that national irrigation systems cannot reach.
– Invest more to double the coverage of the current national irrigation system.
Among the most important or pivotal recommendation made is to create the Department of Water Management (DWM).
Also, the following years saw how merciless the El Niño and La Niña can become. I need not explain that anymore as their impact will forever be etched in the memories of Filipinos, most especially our countrymen whose properties and lives were destroyed by floods.
The El Niño and La Niña episodes should have alerted the current administration to take solid and concerted action to avoid a water crisis, including the creation of the DWM and implementing proven solutions that do not need rocket science.
But what happened? Instead, billions of pesos were poured into flood control projects that turned out to be substandard or nonexistent. This is not only “nakakahiya” but criminal.
What if the billions wasted on substandard or nonexistent flood control projects were poured into the construction of infrastructure for rainwater harvesting, diversion canals, aquifer rechargers, among others?
The creation of the DWM also took a backseat in Congress, even if experts and stakeholders have been pushing for a local water department that will once and for all will consolidate and rationalize the functions of at least 30 water-related agencies in the Philippines.
And here we are now — humanity faces another great challenge with the UN declaration that the world is now facing water bankruptcy. Don’t tell me the Philippines is “exempted” from this because it is “resilient.” Please stop making excuses.
The UN’s declaration of a global water bankruptcy should alert anew the bureaucracy and all stakeholders to take concerted action, and to uncover opportunities amid the crisis.
One good opportunity is the high annual rainfall in the Philippines, measured at 2,400 mm, which can provide a huge amount of water supply if we build the proper infrastructure to harvest and impound rainwater, recharge aquifers, and avoid flooding in communities.
But first, we must accept certain realities to this water bankruptcy declaration, especially in the context of the Philippines.
Proper recognition of water bankruptcy
In its report, the UN called for the recognition of the global state of water bankruptcy.
It said that “‘water bankruptcy’ as a persistent post-crisis condition of a human-water system in which long-term water use has exceeded renewable inflows and safe depletion limits, causing irreversible or effectively irreversible degradation.”
The UN’s press statement on the issue also defined “water stress” and “water crisis” for us to better understand water bankruptcy. To quote: “Water stress” reflects high pressure that remains reversible; and “water crisis” describes acute shocks that can be overcome.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), the Philippines has been under water stress about 18 years ago, or since 2007, citing the National Water Resource Board (NWRB).
It is safe to presume that water stress precedes a water crisis, and if a water crisis worsens, it can lead to water bankruptcy.
So, is it safe to say that the Philippines is nearing a water crisis as the PIDS said the country has been under water stress 18 years ago? My answer would on the affirmative, and please — let us not pretend we are heading or facing actual water bankruptcy already.
The UN is also taking very seriously water bankruptcy, with a high level meeting taking place in Dakar, Senegal last Jan. 26 to 27 after the release of the report. The Dakar meeting was in preparation for the 2025 UN Water Conference to be co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal on Feb. 2 to 4, in the UAE.
Impact on agriculture
According to the UN report, the impact on agriculture from water bankruptcy can be devastating, as about 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture.
“Around 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are located in areas where total water storage — including surface water, soil moisture, snow, ice, and groundwater — is already declining or unstable,” the report added.
Also, it cited that at least 170 million hectares of irrigated farm lands globally are under high or very high water stress, with land and soil degradation amplifying or worsening water-related risks.
“More than half of global agricultural land is now moderately or severely degraded, reducing soil moisture retention and pushing drylands toward desertification,” it added.
Salinization has also affected 82 million hectares of rainfed farm lands and 24 million hectares of irrigated cropland, further reducing the yields in some major breadbaskets globally.
So, what needs to be done most especially in the Philippines?
The report states that the existing governance systems will likely fail to address water bankruptcy. And I agree 101 percent.
In the second installment of the two-part series, I will present more key findings from the report and make recommendations for the Philippines to avoid full-blown water bankruptcy.
