Water Water Everywhere But There is None to Drink
Water is not enough to meet the demand of the whole metro manila. This problem arose from the current dry spell that is afflicting the whole nation. The weather is highly unusual because during this August, a couple of storm must had make landfall. Unfortunately, the whole weather is dry as if summer were extended until August. We are lucky though, because there is rain this week. The rain is caused by the storm (locally named as “Cadang”) that will hit Taiwan. The threat of dry spell is looming based on the reports by the media. According to our weather bureau PAGASA, the effect of the dry spell caused to a water shortage to various dams all over the country. They said that a whole year of water supply were lost. Farmers all over the country also felt the brunt of this weather that many of them (especially those that depend on rain to water the farm) can’t plant crops. This will result to a shortage of rice. Because of thie dry spell, the President is telling the Congress to give her some emergancy power to counter the effect of the freaky weather.
The Philippines is sorrounded by bodies of water and it is very ironic that there are short supply of water to meet our needs. If only the government and the whole country initiated saving water before the dry spell came.
There are many things that we could have done to avert the problem that we are facing right now. One of this is saving of water. We, consumers, must refrain from wasting water on certain activities, like excessive watering of plants and unneccesary carwash.
The other way is to replace the use of fresh water by the abundant seawater. This activities includes the flushing of toilets. According to some statistics, most of our water resources were wasted on toilets. So instead of using fresh water for toilets, seawater should be used. It is more economical and the use of fresh water will be focused on other uses like drinking.
The next way is to use dams that are neglected by the governement. This dam includes the Wawa Dam in Montalban, Rizal whose water flows to the Marikina River unused. The government should tap dams like the Wawa dam to ease the water shortage in the Metro.
Preserve the rain forest. Rain forest serve is the true source of water from dams. Thus, if we reduce our rainforests, water supply in dams will also be reduced. The government must rethink its policy in allowing relocation sites and residential site on places that are within the rain forests. Yes, using forest lands as residential lands will help in reducing the population problem in the Metro but its longterm drawback is the shortage of water that will be used to meet the demand in Metro Manila.
Water is plenty in the Philippines, it is only in good action from both the government and the public that we can avert the dry spell that we are feeling right now.
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