Regenerative Water Management System

By Ignacio Sayajon

Where water flows, surely, there is life. Although the exact origin of water remains unknown, it is believed that its liquid form and earth-like temperature has the unique capacity to harmonize with air, land, and other elements necessary to bring about life. Water is everywhere. It can be found way above our atmosphere, deep in the depths of our seas, on the surface of our lands, and even inside our very own bodies. Because most, if not all, living creatures require water to live, it is necessary that we, humans, cultivate a lifestyle that is mindful of maintaining an effective water cycle. The water cycle is composed of different processes such as evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation and run-off. An effective water cycle is characterized by a minimal water evaporation and run-off from bare soil surfaces. This allows for maintaining a good amount of water reserve. Water is conserved when it penetrates the soil, flows down to the underground reservoirs, springs, and rivers or when it passes through the plants in the process of transpiration. Wherever and whenever there is an ineffective water cycle, life begins to wilt and creatures die. 

Just as the  rise and fall of ancient civilisations in the Easter Island and Andean civilization is directly linked with effective and ineffective water cycles, respectively, so is the fate of the modern cities. The current water woes in major municipalities are categorically connected with at least one of the following current water management mechanisms found to be increasing the ineffectiveness of water cycle:

• The collection and distribution of storm water through centralised dams and  water bores 
• The engineering practice of removing the storm rainwater as fast as possible 
• Taking away wastewater (either by truck or pump) from the point of use to be treated and disposed in far flung places
• The installation, operation and maintenance of water management system (collection, storage, treatment, distribution, treatment and disposal) is linear and fossil-fuel dependent
• In the Philippines, the different government agencies (DENR, EMB, DPWH, DOH, NWRB, and NIA) tasked to oversee the water management in the country do not coordinate their efforts with one another

Rain and water in El Nido

Rainfall pattern of El Nido

Source: https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/philippines/el-nido-climate

Source: https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/philippines/el-nido-climate

Rainfall in numbers

It is worthy to note that 1 millimeter of rain falling on a 1-square meter area yields 1 liter of water. Therefore, given the graphs above, a bucket with 1-square meter opening should be able to directly capture the following amount of rain monthly per rainfall day:

Water and business

At present, 200-liter drum of water costs PhP150 pesos. An average person uses around 100 liters of water a day. While these figures may entice any visionary entrepreneur to invest in the said venture, it is also imperative to consider water sources during the height of El Niño or drought. The potential profit from the price increase of water during high demand season cannot override the costs of procuring alternative sources of water due to ineffective water cycle.  No amount of water price hikes can trick a dried river, dead spring or exhausted aquifer to produce.

The ineffective maintenance of water cycle in the municipality of El Nido confronts the locals and tourists with the twin ironies of experiencing floods during the months of July, August and September and water shortage during the months of January, February and March. With the rain falling on the growing number of  impervious roofs and  cemented pavements in urbanised areas of El Nido, more and more supposed water reserve are lost to surface run-off and flooding.

Regenerative water management system that enhances effective water cycle is necessary for any civilization, nation and community to thrive. Places experiencing a good amount of rainfall should be able to take advantage of the natural water source by capturing, storing, distributing, using, and re-reusing rainwater. Communities must also ensure that used rainwater is released to the atmosphere either through plant transcription or  soil absorption in order to preserve the continuity of the water cycle. 

Although the cultivation of a regenerative water management system is everybody’s concern, the national and local government offices are the primary institutions expected to deliver and oversee such mechanism. True to its mandate, the different national and local government institutions must design a platform, create rules and regulation, and provide incentives, among many other functions,  in order to ensure sustainability in their constituents’ locality. Likewise, local and foreign businesses running most of El Nido’s tourist accommodations and attractions should consider engaging in regenerative water management system should they want to last in the industry for a long time. 

While incentives and regulations drive regenerative management system in private enterprises and vise versa is an exciting discussion, we will talk more about it later. For the time being, may we begin to learn more about water cycle conservation as we prepare ourselves for the coming drought and the upswing of rain months after.