The Senate Committee on Public Works on Wednesday opened discussions on various bills seeking to mandate the establishment, management, maintenance, and regulation of a rainwater harvesting facility in all new institutional, commercial, industrial, and residential development projects.
Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., who chairs the panel, stressed the importance of rainwater harvesting as one of the effective solutions to address the perennial problem of flooding in different parts of the country.
Revilla explained that rainwater harvesting facilities installed in new development projects will augment the water supply in many areas while also serving as temporary catchments so runoff will be decreased and flooding will be prevented.
“Naniniwala ako na malaki ang maitutulong ng rainwater harvesting facilities para magkaroon ng ipunan ng tubig sa mga lugar na may kakulangan sa tubig (I believe that rainwater harvesting facilities will help a lot in saving water for areas that need it),” Revilla said.
One of the bills discussed was Senate Bill 990 filed by Revilla which will require project developers, whose project area is more than 100 square meters, to reserve, develop, and maintain the said facility with a minimum storage tank size calculated by dividing the building footprint area by 75 cubic meters.
Meanwhile, project developers of proposed commercial, industrial, and residential development or any residential multi-dwelling units with land area of more than 1,000 square meters must submit a Rainwater Management Plan as part of the site development application and approval process.
When asked about their current projects about rainwater harvesting, they cited the Rainwater Collection System (RWCS) Project which currently targets public schools as locations.
In a statement last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. revealed his administration’s plan to construct large water impounding facilities outside Metro Manila to address both flooding and water shortage.
Marcos said that through these water-impounding facilities, flooding in Metro Manila will be addressed; at the same time, the rainwater collected may be used for agriculture, particularly irrigation, when the need arises. (PNA)