In Baguio, the war for water has just begun

INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON
Inquirer Northern Luzon : In Baguio, the war for water has just begun
By Maurice Malanes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: July 28, 2009

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Baguio will be 100 years old by September 1, and already, it is experiencing signs of decay, which, experts say, can be stopped by long-term planning that transcends the terms of its elected officials.

The experts cite the dilemma of handling 144 tons of garbage daily, which calls for a more lasting solution than spending P65 million in seven months to haul these to a dump in Capas, Tarlac, about 100 kilometers away.

Be it garbage disposal system or other aspects of urban development, a lesson learned after 100 years stood out during a conference on the summer capital’s centenary at the University of the Philippines Baguio early this year.

This was the need for an urban development planning that would look beyond the three-year terms of elected officials.

Beyond a lifetime

UP Baguio economics professor Arturo Boquiren zeroed in on Baguio’s “carrying capacity,” particularly how it could provide water to a growing population.

Boquiren urged officials and planners to look farther ahead of their lifetimes and anticipate the city’s water needs a century hence.

Based on a 2.15-percent growth rate (1995-2000 census), Baguio’s 252,386 people in 2000 could swell to 2,510,784 in 2109. The population doubles every 32.5 years.

The 2.5 million people would require 180.7 million cubic meters of water yearly, based on a 220-liter per capita for both domestic and industrial uses, Boquiren said.

“Given Baguio’s land area of 57.49 square kilometers and 1.430 meters of rainfall per annum, rain could provide only 82.2 million cubic meters, even if we assume all lands of Baguio are utilized for rainwater capture,” he said.

“Thus, we will be about 100 million cubic meters of water short. This implies that we need more than double of Baguio’s land area devoted for rain capture to supply water for 2.5 million people.”

Following this scenario, Boquiren asked: “Do we want the [current] trend of development in the city to continue? What are our options?”

As it is, development continues to be concentrated within city environs. Boquiren thus supports the idea of dispersing development to neighboring towns so they can also benefit from the fruits of economic development.

Baguio has something to start with. After it was devastated by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1990, European and local experts were mobilized to draw up plans to help rehabilitate the city. They came out with what was called the BLIST Structural Plan. (BLIST refers to Baguio and its neighboring towns—La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan and Tuba, all in Benguet.)

The kernel of the plan is to bring development throughout BLIST so that people will not flock to an already congested central business district and university belt.
Except for La Trinidad, the other BLIST members have sufficient water resources, which can sustain population growth.

Water governance

Supplementing the BLIST plan are recommendations by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (Iclei), which was established in 1990 when more than 200 local governments from 43 countries met during the first World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future in New York.

The Iclei studied Baguio’s water situation in 2004 and proposed a Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM) program.

To institute the SWIM, then Mayor Braulio Yaranon signed Executive Order No. 4 in 2005, which seeks to strengthen coordination between national agencies, such as the National Water Resources Board, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and a yet-to-be-created City Resources Board.

The program includes the establishment of a Local Water Environmental Trust Fund to lock in eco-corporate responsibility over the use and pollution of water resources.

The BLIST and the SWIM remain on paper, waiting for the political will of officials to push serious long-term planning.

Threats

As more people occupy Baguio, the city faces threats and challenges, among them water-related.

Early this year, the Baguio Water District reported 800 illegally operated deep wells, which, it warned, would destroy the city’s aquifers, the ground sources of water.

People have already encroached on vital watersheds, building houses and other structures that threaten clean sources of a vital resource.

On the strength of a recent Supreme Court decision, the city government has scheduled the demolition of 34 houses in the Busol watershed reservation this week. Busol supplies 30 percent of the city’s water needs.

But the city government expects a confrontation with residents, who are decrying a supposed injustice and a selective process. Why out of hundreds of houses, only 34 were given demolition orders, they ask aloud.

They have vowed to put a fight.