The Philippine Association of Water Districts, Inc.

or PAWD (pa-wad) is the umbrella organization of all

duly organized water districts (WDs) in the Philippines. A few pioneer water districts including those
established in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Marawi, San Pablo, Davao and Cebu founded it on
August 31, 1974.

The water district concept was born out of necessity with the failure and subsequent abolition of the
National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA), then supervisory agency for provincial water
supply in the country. The government, after two studies, had commissioned the Adrian Wilson and
James Montgomery, a joint-consultancy firm, to conduct another exhaustive study and submit
recommendations for the formulation of a national policy that would ensure Filipinos in the countryside
access to safe, potable, adequate and reliable water supply anytime of the day.

The recommendations of the Adrian Wilson and James Montgomery resulted to the enactment of the
Presidential Decree No. 198, otherwise known as the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973, to wit:
“Declaring a national policy favoring local operation and control of water systems; authorizing the
formation of local water districts and providing for the goverment and administration of such districts;
chartering a national administration to facilitate improvement of local water utilities; granting said
administration such powers as are necessary to optimize public service from water utility operations, and
for other purposes.”