People take water supply for granted instead of treating it like a precious resource.
In Cebu, the problem is more pronounced where 80 percent of the supply is pumped out of the ground, straining the aquifer.
“This is a wake-up call,” said architect Socorro Atega, executive director of the Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW) at yesterday’s second River Summit.
“Drinking water is diminishing with the increasing demand from a growing population. We should address this concern.”
She urged academic institutions to use their expertise and knowledge to conduct research and identify springs, rivers and communal water sources to help barangays. Then the water should be checked for quality and quantity.
“Environmental education is not just about water or river clean-ups,” Atega said at the summit held in the Cebu International Convention Center.
Cebu doesn’t have big rivers and the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) can only accommodate 43 percent of the present demand for water by a growing population, she pointed out.
“We don’t have big river systems or large watersheds where we can harvest rainfall. We extract ground water for our water supply. With the growing demand for water, we need to harvest every cubic meter we can gather from rain. We should be self-supportive, self-sustaining,” Atega added.
“In terms of enforcement of environmental laws, we are weak. We should strengthen the implementation of these laws,” Atega said.
The summit was organized by the Cebu Academe Network (CAN) with partners in the Cebu City Rivers Management Council and the SK Federation of Cebu City and Cebu Province.
CAN, led by coordinator Lesly Comiso-Magalso of St. Theresa’s College, aims to strengthen the academe’s involvement and the role of youths in caring for the environment, specifically the rivers. They envision a river system that is alive and life-giving.
Cebu City has five river systems – Buhisan, Bulacao, Butuanon, Guadalupe and Lahug which serve as channels and drainage systems of different barangays. Some like the Guadalupe River, the biggest system, is considered biologically dead due to domestic and commercial pollution.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources opened Cebu Water Conservation Month last Sept. 20 with the theme “Water Security for a Sustainable Cebu”.