Saturday, January 05, 2008 Braga determined to push water code implementation By Grace L. Plata
THE signing of a tripartite agreement between the Davao City Government, National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and Davao City Water District (DCWD) for the full implementation of the city's Water Code is on top of Councilor Pilar Braga's list for the first quarter of 2008.
It was Braga who authored the Water Code in 2001 whose goal is the management of water resources to ensure the viability and sustainability of this crucial resource.
The 12th Council approved the ordinance in February 2001. It is anchored on Presidential Code 1067 or the Philippine Water Code of 1976.
It was not immediately implemented due to the absence of its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), which will carry the provisions of the code. It was only in July 2006 that the city government completed the drafting of the code's IRR.
The IRR was prepared by the joint executive-legislative committee earlier formed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, chaired by City Administrator Wendel Avisado, composed of city executives, legislators, and NGO representatives.
With the IRR, the Water Resource Management Council was formed.
The council is an inter-departmental body, headed by the mayor. It is the lead coordinating, implementing and monitoring agency for any activity of the city government in the management, conservation, utilization and development of the city's water resources.
Some key provisions of the code include the identification and declaration of areas within the city as water resource areas, including water recharge areas, rivers, springs and acquifers, protecting them from being exploited.
In the IRR, Calinan to Dacudao, Calinan to Malagos and Sirawan are declared protected water resource.
Drilling of free flowing wells in water resource areas is prohibited, including massive land activities that could affect the utilization and protection of water resources.
Sanitary landfill, cemeteries, and underground oil storage tanks specifically for gasoline stations are also not allowed in identified water resource areas.
No person is also allowed to engage in the business of drilling or operating wells, whether test wells or production wells, without first registering as well driller or operator with the council.
Even with the completion of the IRR in 2006, the City Hall has failed to fully act on it says environmentalist group Interface Development Interventions (Idis).
Lia Jasmin Esquillo, executive director of the Idis said in Friday's phone interview, that while the city council has passed numerous landmark legislations, environmental problems still plague the city because implementation is lacking.
"Its about time na mapirmahan na 'yan para tuloy-tuloy na ang implementation," Esquillo said.
Aside from the Water Code, Esquillo said the city's Watershed Code, approved during the 14th Council, needs the same attention,
The two ordinances act as complementary legislations as the Watershed Code protects upland water sources, which are the watersheds, while the Water Code aims to protect lowland water sources like the acquifers. GLP
