EVERYTIME our homes and roads get flooded, we curse defective government flood control projects and the corruption of our officials.
But there is a better way to view the floodwater– they are actually an unutilized resource that can be stored upstream in dams before they reach the blight and dirt of urban centers.
The problem is where to locate and invest in upstream dams to store these resources.
Undersecretary Dr. Carlos Primo David of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources told Bilyonaryo TV that “by building multipurpose infrastructure like upstream dams to capture clean water before it hits polluted urban centers, excess monsoon water can simultaneously mitigate floods and secure long-term water supplies.”
Most of our neighbors in Asia, who are as flood prone as we are, have been investing on such upstream dams and are thus better equipped during droughts and El Nino episodes to provide the water supplies needed by its people, its hydroelectric energy and farm requirements. That’s what made them better at using such a resource that otherwise becomes purely a waste.
Capturing the floodwater and treating them may be difficult because of road pollutants and heavy silts. The practical solution is to impound water further upstream before it reaches the cities.
Projects like the Upper Wawa Dam north of Marikina demonstrate how holding back water reduces downstream flooding while simultaneously generating a viable raw water supply.
Reservoirs can be managed dynamically—lowered slightly ahead of major storms to create temporary water detention capacity, then filled to store supply for the dry months.
Making these vital infrastructures require an integrated framework with government agencies shifting strategies to merge flood management with water security under a unified national framework and public private partnerships with the state leading large scale flood mitigation infrastructure while the private sector would invest in water capture and supply components.
As the infrastructures are being built by the government and the private sector works on the water capture and supply components, the government in the interim could still provide financial assistance to flood victims. But not for long or forever.
Undersecretary David, a geological scientist, said the DENR has completed the draft of its National Flood Management Framework which aims to provide a single and coherent policy direction for flood risk reduction nationwide. The framework aligns flood control with water resources and long-term economic planning.
It changes the mindset on floodwaters from that of a hazard to a resource that can be captured, stored and used during dry months. This way, flood control becomes a tool that supports irrigation, water supply, energy generation, food security and environmental protection while reducing risks to communities.
The framework becomes a convergence point for many government agencies involved in water, land use and infrastructure.
Currently, major water and flood-control investments are managed by the corruption-riddled Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Irrigation Administration.
The framework provides overarching policy guidance to align infrastructure development, watershed management and local land-use planning, ensuring that public investments contribute not only to flood mitigation but also to water storage, irrigation, and even potable water supply.
In urban and downstream areas, the framework aims to optimize the combined use of green and grey infrastructure, supported by modern monitoring and early-warning systems.
As part of revising the government’s flood management strategy, the DPWH has created an advisory group, consisting of three flood control experts, including DENR Undersecretary David for Integrated Environmental Science and University of the Philippines professor and Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards director Mahar Lagmay, and Institute of Civil Engineering Prof. Guillermo Tabios III.
The DPWH said all future flood projects shall require DENR concurrence. The draft framework is now being circulated among key agencies for refinement and harmonization, reported the PNA last year.