Domoguen: The Cordillera and the water crisis that lie ahead

First of a two-series article

THE European Greens or European Green Party reported an interesting story on their website that got me thinking about the water crisis humanity today is experiencing today.

In my view, the crises have been worsening all throughout my time on this planet, with the increasing population pressure on land and natural resources.

I am no politician but for Europe, the idea of bringing “together national parties that share the same Green values, and who are active across the entire European continent - both within the European Union and beyond,” is commendable and reassuring.

Indeed, we all need leaders who are united to work continuously for the “green transformation” of their communities and their economies that would bring about “a progressive and sustainable future for all citizens.”

Last week, the Europeans Greens reported: “Countries in central Europe have been hit by severe flooding this week. Extreme rainfall has caused rivers across the region to break their banks, with the Danube and Elbe particularly affected. People living in affected regions in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia have been evacuated from their homes. 13 people are known to have died.”

In the USA, the rains have been “Trump(ed)” since last year in California. The delayed rains mean the “golden state” has yet to get out of a long drought, with the vegetation having little moisture during the spring and summer. This caused the drying of the trees, shrubs, and grasses that easily were naturally ignited or caused by human carelessness.

In the Philippines, we continue to be visited by an average of 20 typhoons yearly. The nation has gone through the worst typhoon occurrences in recent years. This month of November, the Provinces of Apayao and Cagayan have been hit hard by flooding.

It is the job of scientists to tell us if the weather events we are witnessing around the globe are statistically associated with climate change. Since we were made aware of this phenomenon, its impact in our experience came with more frequent occurrences of extreme weather, heavy rains, devastating landslides, and flooding.

Thus far, climate change has yet to impact us in a manner that will gift us with a long and sustaining communal passion for Earth care. The droughts of El Nino(s) in the last two decades has affected food production alright and caused “untold” suffering to faunal and floral life - nothing more. The rains came in due time and we have not seen or heard, or really experienced that which would make individuals and communities resolve to work and live for quality – what is best and better for all.

Each to his or her own we continue to drift into our own ways to earn a living and have our daily bread.

Be that, as it may, it should matter to us that the availability of bread and meat is dependent on the availability of clean and freshwater.

The availability of fresh and safe water will always come to mind as one of the most vital natural resources on the planet—and yet, its distribution is also one of the most imbalanced.

In the Cordillera, some communities face growing water scarcity during the dry and wet months. There is no tap water flowing in the faucets a month after the rainy season and the abundant floods are too polluted or silted both for domestic or irrigation use. During the rainy months

The dynamic nature of water means that shifts in climate and human activity can cause water security to change by the year, though extreme events can cause changes by the hour.

Water is our most important and strategic resource in the Cordillera, and it is time we think long and hard about this, and our role in enhancing the region as the watershed cradle of Northern Luzon –To be continued-

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