A new website that monitors critical watershed areas in the country was launched Feb. 14 at MMSU and is now available to those involved in disaster preparedness, risk reduction, and environmental researches.

This science-based information portal is hosted by the university and the National Research and Development Project for Watershed Management in the Philippines (NRDPWMP) and is funded by DOST.

Online visitors of this website can obtain a database that contains vital information on three watershed areas in the country: Pagsanjan-Lumban in Laguna de Bay Basin, Saug Watershed in Davao and Compostela province, and Quiaoit River in Batac City.

These critical areas were initially identified by a team of experts tasked to establish a long-term watershed database in support to science-based policy and management decision making. Funded by PCAARRD-DOST, the project was established jointly with MMSU, UPLB, and DENR.

Dr. Rex Victor Cruz, UPLB chancellor and NRDPWMP leader who attended the launching, said information such as vulnerability assessment; characterization of watershed’s physical, bio-ecological, and socio-economic aspects including installation of instrumentation; and real-time monitoring of watersheds can now be accessible through the web-based watershed management system.

“What we want is watershed information, knowledge, and tools to be readily available to various watershed stakeholders so that they can make decisions on the basis of information and science and not merely on the basis of intuition, gut feeling or, even worse, on the basis of political consideration,” said Cruz during the launching at the ground floor of the MMSU Main Library.

At present, the three identified watershed areas have automated weather stations and solar-powered water level monitoring systems that checks water discharge and meteorological conditions. These real-time information are readily available to communities to help in their disaster risk management activities.

“The three watersheds need to be protected and developed because of their potential in the sustenance of their surroundings,” said Dr. Cruz, adding that these can play a critical role in sustaining the ecosystem because their vast natural resources provide an array of protective services and amenities, educational and scientific opportunities, and psycho-physiological influences.

Despite being victims of modernization and siltation, these watersheds are still rich sources of plants, wood, and other forest products that are economically valuable to the people living in its banks. During rainy season, they provide water for domestic and agricultural purposes.

 “This project is part of the network of watershed research centers that will be established in the country for database generation on Philippine watershed for future assessments of land use impacts and climate change on watershed functions,” Cruz said.

To make the project fully operational in the near future, the agencies involved will determine the biological, physical, and socio-economic components of these watersheds that might be considered for a vulnerability assessment instrument or a standardized instrumentation technique used by network-member watersheds.

This is necessary because many watersheds in the country today are invariably degraded and are continuously threatened. Climate change, which has emerged as one of the most formidable threats to the sustainability of many watersheds, is projected to become more intense in the future, putting additional pressure on already heavily stressed ecosystems and water, land, biodiversity, and other resources, thus increasing the vulnerability of most of the already highly vulnerable sectors of society.

Cruz said he is inviting other government agencies such as the DOE, NPC, NIA, and other concerned institutions to partner with the NRDPWMP and share their watershed database in the portal to make vital information readily available to stakeholders.

The project’s first phase started in 2012 and is expected to be completed in 2015. Cruz hopes to further expand the database in the next phase by adding seven more learning watersheds in the web.

Meanwhile, MMSU President Miriam Pascua lauded the project staff for coming out with the portal, www.philwatershed.org.

“We are looking forward to an explicit development agenda that would allow these advances in information technology to translate into economic efficiency. At the same time, we could also use this portal to respond to the risks brought about by climate change,” she said, expressing hopes that the project would inspire other stakeholders to cooperate in sharing whatever relevant information they have.

“It is in the spirit of synergism and collaboration that we will succeed in our quest to usher our country forward and to help alleviate the challenges we are facing such as poverty reduction and food security,” she said.