With the forecast onset of the El Niño phenomenon, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has called on the citizenry to conserve water resources. The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) revealed that water levels in some of the country’s dams have gone slightly below normal level and are expected to decline further once the summer months set in.

While the water supply in these dams remains manageable and would meet the domestic requirements of the many metropolitan residents as well as the irrigation needs of farmers who till lands in the provinces serviced by the dams, the DENR and NWRB have asked the public to practice conservation.

The DENR has coordinated with water distribution entities, such as the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Irrigation System (NIA), to ensure that the water supply will last until the next rainy season. The NWRB, an attached agency of the DENR, is in charge of allocating the water in the Angat Dam, which is being managed by the National Power Corporation.

The MWSS takes charge of water distribution in Metro Manila through its two water concessionaires, Manila Water and Maynilad. The NIA manages the irrigation water of farmers in Bulacan and Pampanga.

As part of the agreement, the water allocation of MWSS will be reduced from 46 cubic meters per second (cms) to 43 cms starting this month, to 40 cms, then 38 cms, until it reaches 35 cms at the end of June. NIA’s water allocation will be reduced from 36 cms to 34 cms in January and February, just enough to sustain the farmers’ needs until the harvest time in March, 2010.

The public has been urged to do its part by consuming less water. Local authorities have also been encouraged to tighten the enforcement and monitoring of water pilferage and leakage and coordinate with the private water distribution concessionaires. It is imperative that we all contribute to the conservation of this resource as our response to effectively confront the changes in the environment.