[ Manila Bulletin Online ] April 19, 2008
CEBU CITY — While the province of Cebu still has an adequate potable water supply, its increasing population will pose supply problems in the future, according to a top official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7).
DENR-7 Forest Resources Conservation Division Chief Juanito Pua said the current population of Cebu stands at 2.1 million but this number is expected to triple by 2030.
Cebu’s watersheds namely the Kotkot-Lusaran, Mananga, Buhisan, Central Cebu National Park and the Sudlon National Park that have been integrated as the Cebu Central Protected Landscape (CCPL) totaling to 24,000 hectares remain as the major source of potable water for residents in the province.
The supply of water is steady but when the demand will exceed the supply, this will become a problem, Pua pointed out.
During regular rainfall, the annual volume of water that is stored in the CPPL’s aquifers is about 1,740 milliliters, of which a substantial volume is wasted as surface water or goes down into the sea.
Rainfall is considered a re-charger of groundwater, Pua said.
But the CCPL is facing threats of devastation due to increasing illegal settlers and continued timber pouching which affect the quality and quantity of water supply that is being sourced by the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD).
DENR-7 Regional Director Leonardo Sibbaluca said the supply of water is aggravated further by unregulated deep well extraction and that in Cebu City alone, there are 1,000 unregistered deepwell owners who extract water from groundwater sources based on MCWD records.
Because of unregulated deep well extractions, salinity intrusion of seawater has already been detected, Sibbaluca added.
Sibbaluca said the issue is not whether there is an abundance of water supply in Cebu because there is enough supply of potable water. The big question lies on whether present efforts are enough to maintain the abundance of water supply from 2010 thereafter as population continues to increase.
Pua called on local government units (LGUs) and water districts to give priority on the rehabilitation of critical watersheds. Critical watersheds are those that provide potable water sourced by water districts and those that are being used for irrigation systems.
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