A Water Master Plan for Cagayan de Oro

Kagay-anons have been so blessed with the gift of abundant water not many of us have bothered to grant it the attention its proper use and development deserves.

Except perhaps for some instances in the past when the El Niño made us worry for a few months, we were never really anxious over the state of our drinking water, the possible shutdown of Mindanao´s hydroelectric power plants and subsequent brownouts bothering us more.

We gave illegal logging more attention, and with good reason: with Mindanao´s watersheds under threat, the abundance of water which gave the island its cheap, clean power and seemingly bottomless water supply could soon go the way of its primeval forests.

And yet, we Kagay-anons especially, do not seem bothered by the looming water crisis which even now is rearing its head like a tsunami about to wash Cagayan de Oro to the sea. Consider the cavalier attitude of most everyone about the state of the city´s groundwater.

Groundwater is a major source of water for domestic, industrial and commercial

use. However, its quality is rapidly deteriorating due to increasing pressure from the booming population and subsequent multiplication of human activities, industrial wastes, chemical contaminants from domestic, industrial and agricultural activities. The adverse effects of these factors impinge not only the lives all living things but also the balance and harmony of the earth´s ecosystem.

Like what happened in Metro Manila and Cebu, unmitigated extraction of groundwater in Cagayan de Oro has already considerably lowered its water table and would inevitably lead to the degradation of its aquifer through saltwater intrusion.

Because groundwater is so easy to tap, the uncontrolled proliferation of deep water wells has led to overextraction of the Cagayan de Oro aquifer beyond its natural recharge rate.

This is evidenced by the subsidence or rapid sinking of the ground surface in numerous areas around the city which easily went under floodwaters last January.

Residents of the pioneer subdivisions in what is now known as Cagayan de Oro´s Uptown recall how easy it was to get clean, drinkable water from their artesian wells even during the 1980s. However, since new subdivisions mushroomed in the area during the economic boom of the 1990s, the unmitigated proliferation of deep wells has dropped the water table in the area at an alarming rate and residents of at least one subdivision in the area complain how the quality of water from their water system is poor and not potable.

It´s obvious this deteriorating situation calls for the quick formulation of a Water Master Plan for the city. Even granting Cagayan de Oro remains to be the only city in the Philippines today which enjoys the benefits of a bulk water supply, this is not a guarantee its residents would eternally enjoy the benefits of its clear, sparkling water.

In the short term, it´s imperative that the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) clamp down on illegal wells like what it´s already done in Metro Manila and Cebu. Overextraction of groundwater, both from legal and illegal wells, greatly affect our aquifer, which even now also faces additional threats from subsidence, saltwater intrusion, pollution and contamination. The natural rate of recharge of aquifers and the rate of groundwater withdrawal should be balanced with care.

Besides short term measures which need to be implemented immediately, it´s also high time that we admit to ourselves the shortcomings of our present management of our water resources. Instead of focusing on the efficient distribution of our available water supply, for example, there has been a tendency on our part to sink more deepwells to increase the supply rather than squarely facing issues like the rising incidence of non-revenue water.

Consider for instance, how the Cagayan de Oro City Water District constructed at considerable expense a transmission pipeline in the Western portion of the city to distribute water from its bulk water supply project. Yet, not one of the eleven or so residential subdivisions in the Uptown area has tapped this readily available supply, choosing instead to continue draining the Cagayan de Oro aquifer at an unsustainable rate.

The rationale solution to these deficiencies calls for the coordinated development and management of our water resources from both the supply and demand sides within the watershed. As perceived by the NWRB, such an inter-sectoral and collaborative approach to decision-making must combine authority with appropriate responsibility for managing water resources. The responsibility for water resources management rests on each and every citizen of this city.

All of us have to work together to overcome the two greatest challenges that we

face regarding our water: providing safe water for the needs of the present as

well as the future; and maintaining the integrity of our ecology and preserving

the biodiversity of our environment.

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