LET’S BUILD NEW MANMADE LAKES!

LET’S BUILD NEW MANMADE LAKES!

My fellow Filipinos, as an additional solution towards flood control, has anyone suggested the building of new manmade lakes? If no one has suggested it, then chances are, I might be the one to propose it. and why not? Simply put, floods happen because there is too much rain, and the water on the ground either has nowhere to go or, it could not go to the water bodies as fast as it should. Although my suggestion might sound like a new idea, there is already an existing legal basis for it, therefore, there is no longer a need to create a new law to make it happen.

Republic Act 9275, otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 can be interpreted to include the making or building of new manmade lakes. The Act defines waterbodies to include both natural and manmade bodies of fresh, brackish and saline waters, such as ponds, lagoons, reservoirs, lakes, bays, estuarine, coastal and marine waters. The Act also includes provisions for the management and protection of water resources, which can be relevant maintaining ponds for flood water collection.

It appears however that at that time when the Act was passed, the need then was generally for generally for quality water management, and not specifically for flood control. Perhaps that is also the reason why the Act focuses not only on the sustainable use of water resources, but also on controlling and reducing the pollution of water in general. Please note that earlier, in 1989, Republic Act 6716, otherwise known as the Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Act, also mandates the construction of water wells, rainwater collectors, and the development of springs in all barangays. This other Act ensures the availability of potable water and can be related to maintaining ponds for collecting flood water.

Aside from these two Republic Acts, the DILG has also recently issued Memorandum No. 2024-065, instructing all LGUs including all barangays to implement water conservation measures, including promoting and maximizing rainwater harvesting and water catchment systems. Microsoft Copilot says that the goal of the order was “to collect and store water for non-potable uses, such as cleaning and irrigation, to help mitigate the effects of El Nino”. Specifically, what that means is to have enough water if El Nino would cause droughts.

All told, the two Acts and the single DILG Memorandum Order may have cited many reasons for collecting rain water, but I have no reason to interpret that these three references could also be interpreted to become the legal basis to build, make or construct manmade lakes primarily for the purpose of flood control, but also for other related purposes such as fish farming, vegetable production, irrigation and even recreation. With the right technology, the water could even be filtered for drinking.

The common belief among many people is that it floods because it rains. I disagree with this belief, because I believe on the other hand that it rains because the rainwater either has nowhere to go, or the rainwater could not go as fast as it should go to where it should go. Aside from improving our drainage systems or building new drainage systems where there are none, we should also implement other solutions to flooding such as cleaning and deepening our creeks, rivers and natural lakes. In addition to that, we should build not only giant reservoirs, but also huge manmade lakes. Yours truly, IKE SENERES//11-14-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com