‘World getting hotter, water supply needs action plan’

THE public and private sectors should work together to have a more inclusive or broader plan and action to lessen the effects of global warming and ensure the sustainability of potable water in the country.

Lawyer Elisea Gozun, presidential assistant for climate change, made this call during yesterday’s opening of the 33rd National Convention of the Philippine Association of Water Districts at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

“We must plan and work together,”said Gozun in her keynote speech.

She said it’s not the government’s sole responsibility to ensure our water supply, but it would involve everyone including the private sector, water districts, non-government organizations, communities and individuals.

Gozun warned that climate change or “global fever” would bring erratic environmental behavior – the world was getting hotter and it would continue to get hotter in this century.

She said this in turn would cause higher precipitation and higher evaporation that would cause the loss of surface water making it less available for use by people.

“Results of projected scenario revealed that the annual mean temperature in the Philippines is expected to rise by about 0.9 degrees centigrade to 1.1 degrees centigrade for 2020 and 1.9 degrees centigrade to 2.2 degrees centigrade by 2050. One implication will be loss of rice yields as 1 degree centigrade increase in temperature will result in 15 percent decrease in rice yield,” said Gozun.

Gozun cited two critical actions to take – reduce carbon emission and reduce risks or adaptation.

“Mitigation measures can be done by energy and water conservation, improve energy efficiency, shifting to alternative and renewable sources, improving mass transport system, encouraging more composting, recycling and stopping the practice of burning wastes,” said Gozun.

She also called for the strict enforcement of forest protection and rehabilitation of degraded watersheds to ensure sustainability of the water supply.

She encouraged the community level, people to start rainwater collection.

“We are blessed with more than 140 billion cubic meters of rainfall each year but we lose 80 percent of that. And so collection is one way to maximize that and put it to good use,” she said.

Promoting “green” designs in buildings should also be done where best practices of efficiency in use of water and energy resources would be enforced, she said.

The 33rd National Convention of the Philippine Association of Water Districts started last Wednesday. Around a thousand participants from the different Water Districts in the country attended the event./Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap