STANDARD EDITORIAL: UNHARNESSED POTENTIAL
MANILA, OCTOBER 4, 2011 (STANDARD) The Philippines probably is one of the few countries in the world with abundant water resources. But the country has not harnessed the potential of this strategic resource as shown by the yearly floods that devastate vast tracts of farmland and destroy lives.
The flooding in the plains of Central Luzon is a reminder that much has to be done to control the fury of nature, or at least limit its damage to the population and to property. Over half a dozen dams have been built across Luzon precisely to impound the heavy volume of rain dumped by typhoons during the rainy season, and to release it during the dry season to irrigate parched farmland. Dams generate clean and renewable power and provide drinking water as well.
The dams, however, are not enough to solve the perennial flooding that besets Central Luzon. The heavy rain this year, for instance, has prompted authorities to release excess water from the dams to preserve the integrity of their infrastructure and prevent further damage to the population living in the lowlands
The administration of President Aquino III clearly must take a fresh approach to solving the flooding in Central Luzon. Additional dams from the northern provinces and perhaps to the south must be built to contain disasters and help farmers irrigate their land during the dry season.
The series of waterways and canals that stretch across the plains of Luzon island must be restored and rehabilitated to ease the flow of water during extreme weather. Natural catch basins like the Candaba swamp in the eastern part of Pampanga must be reinforced to help contain the floods.
The government may also have to revisit the national irrigation program and give priority to the creation of mini-dams that some private companies are initiating. The mini-dams may not have to be superstructures like the Magat and San Roque dams in Isabela and the Pangasinan provinces, respectively, but hundreds of these flood-control and irrigation systems will ease the task of the larger reservoirs.
It will be a shame if the Philippines cannot exploit its water resource and let it go to waste after wreaking havoc on the population.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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