Water Crisis Looms in 2005

Have you ever heard of stories of dormers in campus taking a bath and while being covered with soap all over, water suddenly runs out? Or worse, being forced to go to class without even decently washing their faces because there is not even a drop of water left when it was their turn to use the common bathroom? These are stories that are only funny and laughable when it didn�t happen to you or at least if you�re not in the moment of it happening to you. Because otherwise it would probably raise your blood pressure to a reasonable degree as you mutter or maybe even shout on top of your lungs, �TUUUBBIIIIGG!!!�.

If you�re not familiar with what I�m talking about, then lucky you. You are one of the very few who have not encountered whether first-hand or otherwise any kind of water shortage problems. Although on second thought, I don�t think any one could be that lucky given that this is the Philippines we are talking about. Water shortage has been a perennial problem of our country.

A new year starts yet again and as usual water shortage issues start surfacing as the summer months will be approaching soon. And though Filipinos have been used to water shortage problems that come during the dry months of March to June, 2005 brings a more serious problem with graver consequences.

It has been anticipated as early as 2002 that the country could be in the midst of a water crisis by summer of this year. The reason for this projection was the continuous decrease of the water level in the Angat Dam, which supplies water to almost the whole of Metro Manila.

Now, the projection turns out to be only partly true. It is true that we are in danger of falling into a water crisis but it is not because Angat Dam has not enough water. It is because of a defective underground water channel from General Nakar in Quezon to Angat Dam in Bulacan.

The water problem stems from the destruction of a portion of the 13-kilometer tunnel that diverts water from the Umiray River in General Nakar in Quezon Province, to Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan. The tunnel is now clogged by logs and debris that were carried by mudslides caused by the four typhoons that hit Luzon in the last quarter of 2004 shutting down the supply of water from the Umiray River to Angat Dam.

Metro Manila draws up to 97 percent of its water supply from the Umiray River through the Umiray-Angat channel and unless the tunnel is repaired in time before the dam reaches its critical level of 180 meters, the water supply in Metro Manila will be severely abridged.

Orlando Hondrade, administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System said clearing operations has already started but it will take several months to rid the tunnel with logs, rocks and mud and another four months to clean and restore it to its old condition.

In the meantime, Malaca�ang urges Metro Manila residents to start conserving water and avoid wastage especially now that summer is just around the corner. And though the government has promised to remedy the problem before it actually becomes a full-blown crisis, we shouldn�t be too keen to rely on that. With the following months of almost no rain coupled with the lack of water supply from the Umiray River, it is possible for the Angat Dam to start drying out before the next rainfall. Its virtual inability to replenish its water supply for the time being should not be in any form or way taken lightly.

This is a time of community as well as individual action. We should not wait for our government agencies to move towards the resolution of a problem such as this. If only to avoid being caught off guard with your mouth wide open by possible drastic consequences of a water crisis we should start with what we can do right now. We should make our own solutions as early as now, even before the actual crisis materialize in front of us. If we act now and do something about the coming water crisis, then we might save ourselves a lot of trouble.