WATER MANAGEMENT VERSUS FLOOD CONTROL

WATER MANAGEMENT VERSUS FLOOD CONTROL

It is often said that the Philippines has too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to water. We have about 30 government agencies involved in water-related functions. Some regulate irrigation, some focus on flood control, some distribute drinking water, and some oversee sewerage. Each is busy with its own mandate, but the problem is that water does not follow bureaucratic boundaries.

Our national habit is to treat flood control, irrigation, and water supply as if they were unrelated. We build dikes and drainage canals to move water away during the rainy season, while in the dry season we lament water shortages for drinking, agriculture, and industry.

The truth is, water should be seen as a value chain that begins with rain. Rain falls on the mountains. If forests are intact, tree roots absorb and regulate its flow into rivers and aquifers. But because so many of our mountains are denuded, the rainwater rushes straight into the lowlands, causing flash floods.

And when that water reaches the lowlands, what happens? In a well-managed system, there should be wetlands, marshes, or open lands to absorb and store excess water. But in many places, these natural buffers have been replaced by subdivisions, malls, and roads. So the water has nowhere to go, and flooding worsens.

Ironically, a few months later, those same cities and towns complain of water shortages. This is the great paradox of the Philippines: we are drowned at one time of the year and parched at another.

Learning From Singapore

In Singapore, the problem was recognized early on. They placed all water-related functions—supply, drainage, sewerage, flood management—under a single agency, the Public Utilities Board (PUB). This integrated approach allowed them to plan the entire water cycle, from rain to tap, and even to recycling. Today, Singapore has its “Four National Taps”: imported water, local catchment water, desalinated water, and recycled water (NEWater).

Here in the Philippines, our fragmented approach makes coordination difficult. Agencies overlap, projects duplicate, and accountability is blurred. Even the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), our supposed central body, struggles to harmonize all these competing interests.

Water Management vs Flood Control

To understand why this distinction matters, let’s compare the two:

  • Water management is holistic. It covers supply, quality, reuse, and conservation. It is long-term, proactive, and aligned with sustainability. It includes rainwater harvesting, watershed protection, aquifer recharge, and smart irrigation.

  • Flood control is reactive. It focuses on minimizing damage from excess water—dikes, levees, drainage canals, pumping stations. It is short- to medium-term.

Both are needed, but one without the other is incomplete. We cannot just build dikes without restoring watersheds. We cannot just harvest rainwater without ensuring drainage capacity.

What We Can Do

The Philippines has actually embraced the idea of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) on paper, but not in practice. What we need now is not another plan, but political will and institutional reform.

Some suggestions:

  1. Consolidate water agencies. Having 30 agencies is a recipe for inefficiency. We need fewer, stronger institutions.

  2. Prioritize watershed restoration. No amount of concrete can replace the natural function of forests. Reforestation should be treated as water infrastructure.

  3. Promote rainwater harvesting and aquifer recharge. Barangays and subdivisions should be required to build retention ponds, rain gardens, or cisterns.

  4. Adopt circular water systems. Wastewater can be treated and reused for agriculture or industry, easing demand on freshwater sources.

  5. Strengthen LGU capacity. Local governments are at the frontline of both flood disasters and water shortages. They should have clear roles and resources to manage both.

A Call for Systems Thinking

The challenge is not just floods, nor just droughts. The challenge is how to manage water as one interconnected system. If we continue treating flood control as a separate issue from irrigation or drinking water, we will remain trapped in the cycle of too much and too little.

Let me pose this question: Is it time for the Philippines to create a single water authority, like Singapore’s PUB, that manages the entire cycle—rain, rivers, reservoirs, sewage, and supply?

The irony that we drown in our own water one season and thirst for it the next should be enough motivation. But unless we shift from flood control to water management, this irony will remain our reality.

Ramon Ike V. Seneres, www.facebook.com/ike.seneres
iseneres@yahoo.com, senseneres.blogspot.com

01-28-2026

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