Babaan, Alisxandre Joshua P.

August 24, 2019

201818117 Dr. David L. Cero
Integrated Water Resource Management

Activity No. 1

What is IWRM?

The Philippines has a land area of 300,000 sq. km. and has an annual average rainfall of
2400mm. As an island nation, the Philippines has 20 major river basins, 421 principal river basins,
and 72 lakes. The total area covered by its coastal bays and coastal waters is about 266,000 sq. km.
The annual dependable water supply is 127,790 MCM and the groundwater potential is 20,000
MCM/year. Due to population growth, increased economic activity and improved standards of
living are placing tremendous pressures both on the resource supply and service delivery systems.
The Philippines now experiencing increased water demand together with insufficient water
infrastructure threatens to outstrip sustainable levels of supply, threats from domestic, agricultural
and industrial waste, a threat from watershed degradation, threats of climate change and global
warming.

To respond to these challenges and ensure that demand does not overrun supply, there
should be a balancing act to ensure that the economic growth and development does not jeopardize
the viability and integrity of our ecosystems both in the present and future. Integrated Water
Resources Management (IWRM) was created which is a collaborative process that promotes the
coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to
maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the
sustainability of vital ecosystems and the environment. The basis of IWRM is that the many
different uses of finite water resources are interdependent. High irrigation demands and polluted
drainage flows from agriculture mean less freshwater for drinking or industrial use; contaminated
municipal and industrial wastewater pollutes rivers and threatens ecosystems; if water has to be
left in a river to protect fisheries and ecosystems, less can be diverted to grow crops. There are
plenty more examples of the basic theme that unregulated use of scarce water resources is wasteful
and inherently unsustainable. The Philippines, along with the other UN Millennium Development
Goals and agreed to formulate and implement their respective IWRM and water efficiency plan.

Integrated Water Resources Management is a cross-sectoral policy approach, designed to

replace the traditional, fragmented sectoral approach to water resources and management that has
led to poor services and unsustainable resource use. IWRM is based on the understanding that
water resources are an integral component of the ecosystem, a natural resource, and a social and
economic good.
REFERENCES

National Water Resources Board (2005). Integrated Water Resources Management . Retrieved
from http://www.wepa-db.net/pdf/0710philippines/4_NWRB.pdf

Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (2011). Retrieved from
https://www.gwp.org/en/GWP-CEE/about/why/what-is-iwrm/