CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Pampanga’s human population and its large number of industries are dangerously causing the over-extraction of the province’s groundwater resource to dangerous levels and is now harming the environment.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and scientists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (Laguna) have earlier warned that a water crisis would affect Pampanga and surrounding provinces by 2025.
And even now, the telltale signs of salt water intrusion, ground subsidence, water shortages, and water poisoning have been reported in Pampanga in recent years and experts said that these would become more severe by 2025 unless conservation measures and strict regulations are placed.
Decades of indiscriminate domestic, agricultural and industrial use of groundwater resources have led to a significant decline in the quality of ground water sources not just in Pampanga but in the whole of Central Luzon.
As Central Luzon’s population continues to grow, demand for fresh water is expected to double in 20 years time with the demand most likely more felt in the urban areas, especially cities.
Central Luzon has at least 12-million-cubic-meter potential water supply and the need for fresh water is at an all time high due to domestic and industrial demands.
A study funded by the US Agency for International Development (Usaid) said that some form of water shortage will be experienced not just in Pampanga cities and towns but also in the whole country by 2025.
While groundwater resources are constantly recharged by rainwater and seepage from bodies of water like rivers and lakes, over-extraction and lack of proper garbage disposal measures have continuously threatened fresh water usability and recharging of ground water aquifers.
Warning signs
The excessive use of groundwater has been attributed as the main cause of subsidence and saltwater intrusion. Groundwater is sourced from aquifers, water-filled sandy layers underground, which are recharged from rain water seepage.
However, over-extraction lessens the pressure in the aquifers and the clay layers above and beneath them which results into compaction and subsidence of surface land.
The University of the Philippine National Institute of Geological Sciences has reported that that land, which include entire towns, in Pampanga and Bulacan are sinking due to over-extraction of groundwater and these areas are sinking at a rate of five centimeters annually.
Guagua town alone is said to be sinking between two centimeters every year along with Sasmuan town which has been sinking at a rate of two to four centimeters yearly, or about a meter in 20 years.
The DENR, in 2007, reported that saline water intrusion has also affected at least 23 kilometers of the Pampanga River and its 45 kilometers inland.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Central Luzon in 2011 said that 7,000 hectares of rice lands in the coastal villages of Pampanga, Bulacan, and Bataan have been damaged from salt water forcing farmers to convert 1,000 hectares into fish ponds.
Central Luzon was named among the regions identified by the Philippine Environment Monitor and the Environmental Management Bureau with unsatisfactory ratings for water quality.
Extraction of groundwater is mainly done by households through shallow tube wells, water providers and utilities, industries and commercial establishments and well farm irrigation systems.
Farming alone contributes greatly to groundwater extraction as Pampanga is also a major producer of rice that requires substantial amount of water for production. It takes around 1,432 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of rice in an irrigated lowland production system.
Domestic water woes
Studies have shown that the shortage will be most felt in urban areas. Some 12 towns and cities in Pampanga may experience groundwater shortage by 2025 due to unchecked use of deep wells by houses and industries.
The City of San Fernando is seen as one of the most at risk. The City of San Fernando Water District (CSFWD), one of the biggest water utilities in Pampanga, has been experiencing the problems.
CSFWD General Manager Jorge Gumba said that they are experiencing the rapid deterioration of ground aquifers. He said that the average drop of water level in the city each year is one meter.
“Although our studies showed that our aquifers in are continuously being recharged, the studies also show that the recharging is overtaken by over-extraction,” Gumba said, adding that industrial extraction has also contributed to the over extraction.
Gumba said that in the 1980s, the average depth of a well is about 150 meters to 200 meters. Under such depth, the well already provided then clean water with the aquifer lasting about for a 30-year life span.
But today, the water district would have to drill wells as deep as 250 meters and avoid ground water sources between the 30-meter to 130-meter level to avoid water contaminated with higher concentrations of iron and sulphate.
Gumba said that other water utilities today would have to dig as deep as 300 meters and wells sometimes last for only 10 years. Ground water quality had also drastically changed, he said, with water utilities are digging deeper to get the best water source.
CSFWD has 33 pumping stations. In the 80’s, it serves some 10,000 concessionaires. Today, it services some 45,000 concessionaires with an average increase of around 1,000 concessionaires each year.
The CSFWD produces some 40,000 cubic meter of water a day. The water extracted can fill some 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The City of San Fernando has some 306,659 population as of 2015 and all its residents use and consume water one way or the other. This is not counting the transient population that come into the city daily. The city has an estimated daily transient population of 200,000 from students, mall goers and workers.
But it is not just the CSFWD and its population which are accessing water from groundwater sources. Companies in the city are also accessing the city’s ground water source. Not factored here are the recreational facilities like swimming pools that also operate in the city.
Gumba said that at the current rate, urban towns and cities in Pampanga would have to dig deeper for ground water. He added that Pampanga should avoid the case of Bulacan where groundwater is accessed at a depth of 300 meters but with very poor yield.
Gumba said that it is about time to find ways for an alternative water source and institute measures to reduce the impact of over-extraction on the environment.
Regulation and alternative supplies
Gumba said that water utilities can venture into the possibility of using surface water as alternative source of supply.
In 2015, Bryan Villamor, a consultant on water resources of the provincial government, said that Pampanga is overly dependent on groundwater and has neglected its surface water along river systems.
Pampanga was said to have 90 percent of its surface water virtually untapped. Villamor said that the Pampanga River Basin, which is the fourth largest river basin in the country, has a total catchment area of 10,434 square kilometers and has a potential supply of 18.34 million cubic meters a day that could be used for surface water supply.
“Over-extraction of groundwater will result in deterioration of water quality, land subsidence, drying up of wells and salt water intrusion,” Villamor said, adding that the system is not cost prohibitive and is more beneficial for the environment.
Gumba agrees that surface water is a better alternative. He added that households and commercial establishments should also consider putting up catchment facilities in their homes and buildings to secure rain water.
“Rain water could be used for flushing the toilet, washing cars, garden irrigation and the likes. This is to save ground water for more important use,” Gumba said, adding that while water conservation helps, more drastic measures should be taken. Gumba also said that government should take steps to regulate ground water extraction and require catchment systems.
Rainwater catchment system (RCS) could be installed in homes, office buildings and even farms. These would harvest rainwater for domestic and even agricultural use. The system is seen as a good alternative in a country that is drenched by monsoon rains and visited by typhoons every year.
The CSFWD, Gumba said, is also looking at the process of employing artificial recharge to help groundwater sources. Artificial recharge is defined as the process by which the ground water recharge is augmented at the rate much higher then those under natural condition of percolation. Pilot testing for the system will be implemented in one of the water utility’s pumping stations soon.
“Government and water users should do something now. Saving our groundwater resources is also saving the environment,” Gumba said.