Ormoc Bay to be declared as water quality mgt area

THE Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Eastern Visayas is batting for the declaration of the Ormoc Bay in Ormoc City as a water quality management area (WQMA).

The designation of WQMA aims to enforce the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 and improve the quality of water by addressing water quality issues.

Control measures on the sources of pollution, and the beneficial use of the receiving water body shall be taken into consideration so as to achieve water quality objectives.

The Ormoc Bay was prioritized for the WQMA designation because of its high in boron (a chemical element), coliform wastes (contributed by human or animal waste) and bacterial count that were found by the EMB-Eastern Visayas.

Ormoc Bay also sits as neighbor to big companies: Leyte Industrial Development Estate, which is the home of the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Plant; and the Philippine Associated Smelter and Refining Company, the country’s biggest copper processing plant, among other industries.

As part of its activities in the designation of Ormoc Bay as a WQMA, a stakeholders’ meeting was held earlier where a governing board for the Ormoc Bay was then formed.

The governing board is composed of representatives of mayors, governors, local government units (LGUs), representatives of relevant National Government Agencies (NGAs), duly registered non-government organizations (NGOs), the concerned water utility sector and the business sector.

A P1-million fund would be provided to the Ormoc LGU from the office of Senator Pia Cayetano, while the EMB-Eastern Visayas will provide technical assistance. The board will design major programs attuned on water quality management and shall formulate strategies that will be effective in implementing the Clean Water Act.

Water Quality Management Areas are certain areas using appropriate physiographic unit, such as watersheds, river basins or water resource regions. These management areas shall have similar hydrological, hydro geological, meteorological or geographical conditions that affect the physico-chemical, biological and bacteriological reactions and diffusion of pollutants in the water bodies or otherwise share a common interest or such as similar development programs, prospects, or problems. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)