MANILA, Philippines ? Metro Manila may not be having a water crisis, but it is experiencing ?water stress.?

Ramon Alikpala, executive director of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), said Friday the high level of urbanization in Metro Manila and eight other cities in the country had a negative impact on the water supply.

?Water stress means Metro Manila, Baguio, the cities of Angeles, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Metro Cebu would soon be or are already getting water from other places and not within their own environments,? Alikpala said during the launch of the first Philippine portal for the country?s water supply and sanitation.

Alikpala said Metro Manila, for example, gets its water from Bulacan province. ?Angat Dam provides water to 97 percent of Metro Manila residents, while the remaining three percent of the population gets water from deep wells,? he said.

Alikpala said water stress in Metro Manila affected Bulacan as well. ?During the El Niño months, farmers had to cut back on their irrigation supply to provide water to the metropolis,? he said, adding that the government was now looking at Laguna Lake as an alternative to Angat Dam.

While assuring Filipinos that the country?s water supply was still relatively abundant, Alikpala warned that mismanagement of water resources could eventually lead to a crisis.

He mentioned studies revealing that the groundwater supply in Metro Manila had reached a critical level.

Alikpala said the University of the Philippines identified the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela as among areas ?where groundwater has been reduced to below the sea level.?

Other problems that Metro Manila residents had to contend with, he said, were saltwater intrusion and contamination of groundwater from septic tanks.

He said the launch of the Philwatsan portal (http//philwatsan.org.ph) could help solve the problem.

?Through the portal, there would be a collaborative effort among government agencies and local government units to get data and information on the Filipinos? access to safe, affordable and sustainable water,? Alikpala said.