UPLB prepares roadmap for national water security
- Written by Ma Rowena Beatriz Q. Inzon
- Published in News
The Philippines has been struggling with serious water issues and little, by way of a nationally concerted effort, is being done to aggressively address the problems.
Thus is the rationale for the UPLB project “Towards A Comprehensive National Plan For Water Security (Roadmap Preparations).” Funded by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), the project aimed to formulate a National Water Security Roadmap in the context of climate change and globalization.
Led by a committee of experts from UPLB, the project will review continuing water-related problems like the lack of holistic and comprehensive water resource planning; lack of effective water allocation and reuse policies; insufficient water facilities and technology; and a lack of enabling policies on water technology and management among others.
To do this, UPLB will review and consolidate local and global studies related to water security to help identify the country’s major issues from seven focus areas: domestic, economic, agriculture, environment, urban, resilience, and governance. Together with the Steering Committee on National Water Security Roadmap and Summit 2017, a National Summit will be organized this year to provide a venue to present key findings and draw out experiences from key stakeholders.
Three pre-summit meetings are also being held to identify gaps and challenges on policies, programs, projects and activities towards a national plan for water security.
Davao Pre-summit
Attended by more than a hundred stakeholders, the Davao Pre-summit was successfully conducted last 31 May 2017 at the Ateneo de Davao University. The Pre-summit focused solely on the environment and agriculture sector. Dr. Ernesto Ordonez, Secretary General of the Steering Committee on National Water Security Roadmap and Summit 2017 welcomed guests and participants from the region.
Director Roderick M. Planta of the National Economic and Development Authority opened the program by giving an overview of the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 for the Water Sector.
Dr. Patricia Ann J. Sanchez, Associate Professor IV of the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) and Dr. Ma. Victoria O. Espaldon, also a Professor at SESAM, presented UPLB’s preliminary findings. In the afternoon, parallel workshops for the agriculture and environment sectors were held which identified key issues and concerns for water security. NWRB Director Sevillo D. David Jr. gave the closing remarks.
Bohol and Manila Pre-summits
Similarly, pre-summit meetings in Bohol and Manila will also be conducted. The Bohol Pre-summit is on 6 June 2017, while the Manila pre-summit is on 15 June 2017.
