Case Study: Impacts of Climate Change on Water Management System

Submitted by:

Bilas, Milka G.

Balambao, Joshua T.

Dizon, Raive Ravyn S.

Padilla, Jeffrey L.

Tapnio, Lee Anne B.

CE-306

Submitted to:

Engr. Patrick Francis Mallari

November 16, 2023

I. Executive summary

Good day, everyone! We are the Group 11 of CE-306 and we are about to present our case study

entitled. Impacts of Climate Change on Water Management System

(next slide)

The Philippines is a well-known tropical country that faces significant risks in water

management due to climate change. Climate change has caused a notable change in the water

cycle and distribution of water resources.

The impacts of climate change, such as rising temperatures, variable precipitation, and

extreme weather events, have had adverse effects on the economy, environment, and

communities. Given its geographical location and population distribution, the Philippines is

particularly vulnerable to these impacts.

Water management plays a crucial role in the country's economic activities, and its demand,

availability, and quality are becoming increasingly critical as climate change continues to occur.

However, the lack of a coordinated sector planning and monitoring has resulted in weak

protection for vital water resources. The challenges posed by climate change call for

comprehensive exploration and the recommendation of effective strategies to mitigate its impact

on water management.

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The Philippines is well-known for being a tropical country. The odds of climate change

happening in this country is very high and has been posing major risks for water management for

years now. A dramatic change in the water cycle is notable together with the influence of climate
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change that altered the water resource distribution. According to the National Climate Change

Action Plan (n.d.), has stated the following:

The manifestations of climate change in the form of rising temperature, variability of

precipitation, frequency and intensity of typhoons, sea level rise, and the risks of more

droughts, floods, heat waves, and forest and grassland fires have impacts on the economy,

environment, and communities. Given its geographical location, archipelagic formation in

the tropical Pacific, and population distribution, the Philippines is greatly vulnerable to

the impacts of climate change and has already experienced noticeable adverse effects in

recent years.

Water management, as one of the major components of human economic activities, is

becoming even more critical according to its demand, availability, and quality as climate change

continues to occur inevitably. Another statement indicated by National Climate Change Action

Plan (n.d.), a weak protection to vital water resources is a result of a poor climate-smart water

program of an uncoordinated sector planning and monitoring.

The escalating effects of climate change profoundly challenge the water management

system. This case study embarks on a comprehensive exploration of options in addressing the

impacts of climate change on water management and its primary objective is to recommend one

of the best strategies in lessening the impacts of climate change on water management.

II. Case Evaluation

It is notable that changes in precipitation including the total amount, form, timing,

intensity, and duration, can negatively alter our water availability and quality. As climate change

plays a major role in impacting the water management system in the Philippines, a period of

water crisis caused by an extreme weather event such as an average of 20 typhoons that occurs
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yearly, whether they bring too little or too much water, can destroy thousands of Filipino lives,

livelihoods, and properties. A flood carries large volumes of water and contaminants combined

with sewer and wastewater systems that directly enters waterways. Every aftermath of typhoons

coming in and out of the country contaminates the water sources of the affected areas and poses

a big threat to human health, properties, and livelihoods.

However, climate change in the Philippines is not limited to extreme rainfall, but rising

temperature is also one of its major events, where higher temperatures and evaporation rates

could alter the demands for water resources in many areas of the country. Although the

Philippines is appreciated for its abundant source of freshwaters, with a continuous increase in

temperature in the country can highly likely produce another El Niño episode. As stated by Porio

et al. (2018), the Philippines is highly vulnerable to drought, resulting in severe impacts on crop

productivity, water availability, and food security. During an El Niño event when ENSO is in its

warm phase, the higher-than-average sea surface temperatures (SST) over central and eastern

equatorial Pacific Ocean affect the spatial distribution of rainfall such that drier conditions are

experienced over different parts of the Philippines, as well as other areas in the western Pacific,

particularly during its peak around December to February.

These events focus on the need to meet the inadequate actions in solving problems

regarding the water management system that are being brought by extreme climate changes

occurring in the Philippines.

III. Proposed Solutions

As water plays a vital role in life sustenance on Earth, the goal of this case study is to help in

increasing the security of water management in terms of its availability and quality while
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protecting, even not entirely, but most of the water resources in the Philippines against any type

of climate change that may occur.

To help the governments and sectors meet their climate-smart water program, it would be

a necessity to have innovative financing by attracting investment and creating jobs for more

sustainable and scalable water solutions. The finances will be divided according to different

aspects of water management issues that need the most attention. This includes the protection of

natural buffers – vegetation in coastal mangroves and wetlands are effective and inexpensive

natural barriers to flooding, extreme weather events, as well as erosions. Investing in more

materials to harvest more rainfalls, in which, according to the law, all government public

infrastructures must construct rainwater collection systems (RWCS) and use collected rainwater

for non-potable uses. Reusing of wastewater that are caused by floods and typhoons, can be

regularly treated for irrigation and industrial utilizations. Safely managed wastewater is an

affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients, and other recoverable materials.

The average rainfall in the Philippines is approximately 2,348 millimeters with

approximately 20 typhoons per year. Since the country is prone to typhoons, encouraging people

to practice rainwater harvesting will help to ensure that there will be ready to use water supply

for each household. Rainwater harvesting is basically collecting rainwater to store it into a large

container to supply a household when needed. This technology is being practiced in Germany

and Australia, and now, the Philippines being a typhoon-prone country, we can convert these

typhoon landfalls to our advantage by doing the same thing. Thus, we can ensure that there will

be an increase in water availability in urban areas.

Building a reservoir that can hold a vast amount of water for use. This helps in providing

available water for use immediately when needed especially for irrigation of crops during El
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Nino season. Investing in the construction of a dam also helps to produce electricity.

Hydroelectric energy is a renewable energy that utilizes the kinetic energy from water to

generate electricity, thus having a reservoir can help in reducing the carbon emission from

generating electricity which could eventually minimize global warming. Though helpful in

various ways, construction of a reservoir has its fraction of negative impacts especially on the

environment and the indigenous communities near the site where dams are usually built. With

unpredictable weather caused by climate change, the Philippines sometimes experience high-

precipitation due to multiple typhoons hitting the country. Taking it into consideration, dams

may sometimes be required to release water when there is too much precipitation, and it is

nearing its maximum capacity that may result in flooding to nearby areas.

IV. Conclusion

Extreme rainfall is just one of the main effects of climate change in the Philippines;

increasing temperatures and evaporation rates have the potential to modify the demand for water

resources throughout a large portion of the nation. While the Philippines is known for having an

abundance of water resources, an ongoing rise in temperature in the nation increases the

likelihood of another El Niño event – in which can dramatically alter the availability of water

resources. According to Porio et al. (2018), the Philippines is extremely susceptible to drought,

which can have a negative influence on food security, crop productivity, and water availability.

Higher than average sea surface temperatures (SST) over the central and eastern equatorial

Pacific Ocean during an El Niño event, when ENSO is in its warm phase, affect the spatial

distribution of rainfall, resulting in drier conditions over various parts of the Philippines and

other areas in the western Pacific, especially during its peak around December to February.

These activities center on the necessity of addressing the insufficient steps taken to address
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issues with the water management system that are resulting from the severe climate changes that

the Philippines is experiencing.

Innovative financing government’s climate-smart water program, harvesting rainfalls, and

building reservoir are only few out of many adaptations measures that people can do to be

prepared when another climate change occurs. These measures help in improving and protecting

our water management system, even not entirely, but at least most of water resources in the

Philippines will be safe and accessible to every Filipino.

There are other many things that everyone can do to lessen the impact of climate change.

Some measures include growing your own fruits and vegetables or buying locally grown

produce, since produce is often transported to grocery stores from far away by trucks, which add

more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. You could also walk or ride a bike instead of driving a

car. On a larger scale, industries that are dependent on fossil fuels need to make the switch to

renewable, cleaner energy sources to influence our planet for the better.

V. Recommendations

The importance of understanding and predicting ongoing changes in climate change and its

impact on water management systems cannot be overstated. However, there is a pronounced lack

of studies that evaluate long-term monitoring data sets in terms of warming-induced impacts.

The scarce number of published studies contrasts with the meticulous collection of data over

often decades by many authorities, waterworks, or environmental protection agencies. To

identify and tackle upcoming changes in water quality, we require solid baseline data by

proceeding in financing climate-smart programs. To tackle these knowledge gaps, we suggest

review of long-term monitoring data sets subsequently, ideally adhering to open data norms,

setting up, running global observation sites, particularly in isolated locations and combination of
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spatial modeling techniques, water resources monitoring data, and remote sensing products.

Increasing and installing energy efficient pumps and matching them to system requirements can

save 10–30 percent of the energy demand in water supply and wastewater treatment. Production

of renewable energy and recovery thus reducing demand for fossil fuels such as turbines placed

along the water supply and wastewater systems for hydropower generation and understand water

dependency and related climate risks. Cross-sectoral mechanisms that can account for the

implicit and explicit water commitments across all parts and levels of society within and among

countries particularly in the context of understanding key hydroclimatic risks are important to

ensure that activities are viable and do not undermine local water security, especially for

vulnerable populations. Since most of the temperature-dependent processes affecting water

quality are not or only very slowly reversable. We urgently need comprehensive knowledge

about the changes currently taking place before it is too late to develop appropriate

countermeasures and management strategies.

VI. References

1. National Climate Change Action Plan (2018).

https://climate.emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NCCAP-1.pdf

2. Porio, E., Dator-Bercilla, J., Narisma, G., Cruz, F., Yulo-Loyzaga, A. (2018). Drought

and Urbanization: The Case of the Philippines. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-8947-3_12.

3. Hydroelectric Energy. National Geographic - Education. (2023, October 19).

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hydroelectric-energy/

4. Aqil, A. M. I. (2023, January 30). Indonesian, Philippine water experts push for more

sustainable dams amid climate change. PreventionWeb.

https://www.preventionweb.net/quick/76183
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5. Perlman, H. (n.d.). Handling your water crisis: Finding new supplies of water. Solving

a water crisis (the USGS Water Science School): Find new supplies.

https://water.usgs.gov/edu/sos3q2.html

6. World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal. Climatology | Climate Change

Knowledge Portal. (2021).

https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/philippines/climate-data-

historical#:~:text=The%20Philippines%20has%20a%20humid,4%2C050%20mm

%20in%20central%20Luzon.

7. Maxwell-Gaines, C. (2020, July 27). Rainwater harvesting 101: Your how-to collect

rainwater guide. Innovative Water Solutions LLC.

https://www.watercache.com/education/rainwater-harvesting-101