The
above Facebook post dated 01 April 2024 is not an April Fools’ joke –
but we are fools if we do not do something about it! Foolish,
we have not been doing anything about it, I mean, not stopping the decline of
the water level at Angat Dam.
Nota bene: “Angat Dam
supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water needs.” That is
to say, if we do not stop the water level of the dam from decreasing, it means
we do not care what happens to the residents of Metro Manila when it comes to
their water supply!
Ms
Bella says Angat Dam also “provides water for irrigating 25,000 ha of farmlands
in Bulacan and Pampanga.” That means, the lowering of the water level in the
dam endangers also the irrigation needs of farmers in Bulacan and Pampanga.
Yes,
we can stop the water level from decreasing. But we have been sleeping on the
job!
As
a communicator for the development of villages since pre-digital days (1975-1980), being for Forest Research Institute (now ERDB) the Founder and The Editor
In Chief of the monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat – I learned much and wrote much
about the roles of forests in our lives, one of those roles being for the
forest to be the watershed – meaning the source of water of dams downstream.
So, the water level of Angat Dam actually depends on the
status of the watershed feeding it. And? And that status depends on how much we
have deforested, seen or unseen, the watershed!
So, instead of simply shrugging it off, local government
units (LGUs) should be urging and watching the Department
of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) truly enforce PH’s laws on
logging – and stop both big illegal logging and small illegal
logging (kaingineros). The loggers, as well as the kaingineros, are both guilty
of deforesting our mountains – and therefore, guilty of Angat Dam (and any
other dam’s) water level going down!
What should we do?
Let us use our heads – and our cellphones! Call the DENR and
ask them what they have been doing to prevent irrigation and water dams from lowering
their water levels – meaning, their sources of water, the forests, have been
deforested and continue to be deforested and/or unreplanted or unrestored.
We cannot simply read the news and let it go at that! So, use
your cellphone now and text or call the DENR!
Alternatively, call on those LGUs to wake up and call on the
DENR to wake up and impose the law on deforestation!
Cellphones on the ready – call the DENR now. The more
cellphone calls, the merrier!@517
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