The water crisis is for real

GOOD morning brothers and sisters, the bibles first chapter addresses the most fundamental issues of life, it declares that God brought all things into existence, and this should affect the way we live. The writer of Genesis made the Radical declaration that there is one God. That truth stood in sharp contrast to the polytheism and idolatry of the ancient world. The description of each creation day denounced the various God worshiped by the Pagans of Moses Day and declared that they were not Gods at all – Just creations of the one and only true and living God. On day 1 – Gods of light and darkness are dismissed; day 2 – Gods of sea and sky; day 3 – Gods of Earth and vegetation; day 4 – sun, moon and stars Gods; Days 5 and 6 animal Gods; and finally, humans. Even though all people are granted a divine likeness, they too are only created beings and must never be worshiped. Lets make it our goal to get to know the true and living God. Praise be to God.

Lets pause for a moment: So many Gods have all come and gone, Gods of earth, of sky and of sea But God the creator alone will stand test of time and eternity. In the beginning – God.

Our topic: Agriculture uses to percent of the worlds available water, this is not a quess but a fact. During her tem as head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Elisea Gazon pointed out-on a macro-level, “it appears there is plenty of water, but we are now experiencing problems and in some instances, some areas, by this I mean the country as a whole, are suffering from lack of water.” Now it is happening. In Lanao del Sur seven out of 10 residents lack access to improved water sources, according to the Philippine Human Development Report. That's a fraction higher than Masbate 's 63 percent and Guimaras 56, in contrast, only 3.5 percent of the mountain province folk are cut off from unsafe water. Worldwide, about 70 percent of water use is in agriculture for irrigation, 15 percent in industry and 15 percent for household purposes.

The latter includes drinking water, bathing, cooking, sanitatrion and gardening. “Between 20 to 40 liters per head per day is the minimum water consumption needed for drinking, bathing, cooking and sanitation, “The Pacific Institute for Development Studies Estimates. “The image of a water-rich Philippines is a mirage”, says Gregory Ira. Former head of the water equity in the lifescape and landscape study of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in Silang Cavite. “There is a water crisis in the Philippines , one of the wettest countries of Southeast Asia .” The water crisis is more transparent in Metro Manila, home to more than 10 million people. “For the majority of residents in Metro Manila, coping with a “Water Supply Crisis” has been part of their daily woes for years, indicates the data bank and research center of the IBON Foundation, Inc. Metro Manila was one of the nine major cities listed as “water critical areas” in a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 1991.

The other eight cities were Metro-Cebu, Davao , Baguio , Angeles, Bacolod , Iloilo , Cagayan De Oro and Zamboanga. “We cannot talk of providing sustainable water to the people unless we protect the sources of the commodity, the watersheds.” Gozon said. A couple of years ago, the DENR said that 90 percent of the 99 watershed areas in the country were “hydrologically critical” due to their degraded physical condition. Massive destruction of the once productive forests and watesheds by loggers, both legal and illegal, and uncontrolled land use from mining, overgrazing, agricultural expansion and industrialization have contributed to water depletion”. From a high of 15 million hectares decades ago, the country has only about 5.4 million hectares of forest lands left,” Gozon said. Deforestation has also resulted in enormous soil erosion, which exacerbates the destruction of watershed areas. At least two provinces-Cebu and Batangas have lost more than 80 percent of their topsoil to erosion. In Luzon , the four major basins – Bicol, Magat, Pampanga and Agno are in critical condition due to acute soil erosion and sedimentation.

The rampant cutting of trees has also significantly reduced the volume of groundwater available for domestic purposes. Cebu , which has zero forest cover, is 99 percent dependant on groundwater. As a result, more than half of the towns and cities in Cebu province, excluding Metro-Cebu, have no access to potable water, according to a study conducted in Central Visayas . “On the watershed level, the forest cover varies from almost none to 50 percent,”

Mark Twain once wrote – “Whiskeys for drinkin,” but water is for fighting over”.

Sir Crispin Tickell, one of the organizers of the 1992 earth summit in Rio De Janeiro agrees, he said, the world has got a very big water problem. It will be the progenitor of more wars than oil. I hope you found this interesting. Today, in many parts of the world, the well is indeed drying up. Take care see you next week.