A Written Report

on

Role of Hydrology in Water

Resources Planning and Management in
the Philippines
CE42-B

Submitted to:
Engr. Hazel Balicas
February 26, 2019

Submitted by:
Abello, Christine Lyka
Apole, Jesamae L.
Aventura, Mae Ann P.
Pranza, Precious Thelmarie D.
Rivera, Aura Jen B.
 Role of HYDROLOGY in Water Resources Planning and Management in the Philippines

Objectives:
 To define problems on watershed and mitigation in the Philippines.
 To cite current problems in watershed management and watershed protection in our
country.
 To define the role of Hydrology in water resources planning and management in the
Philippines.
 To cite and identify the agencies involved in the collection of hydrologic data in the
Philippines.

Over the past decade, and increasingly, there have been many studies into climate change
effects on hydrology and water resources and some undertaken on behalf of water management
agencies. There are still many gaps and unknowns, however. The goal of this chapter assesses current
understanding of the impacts of climate change on water resources and implications for adaptation.
Estimating the Impacts of Climate Change
The impacts of climate change on hydrology usually are estimated by defining scenarios for changes
in climatic inputs to a hydrological model from the output of general circulation models.
The three key developments here are:
1) Constructing scenarios that are suitable for hydrological impact assessments,
i) The Guidelines have four main objectives:
1. To introduce and describe the information and analytical tools being provided
by the Data Distribution Centre
2. To offer guidance on how to interpret the baseline and scenario data held by
the DDC and elsewhere, in order to facilitate the informed selection and use of
data in impact and adaptation assessments
3. To highlight and illustrate the key steps and procedures that are commonly
required in applying baseline and scenario data in impact and adaptation
assessments
4. To suggest standards for reporting the results of impact and adaptation studies.
ii) SPECIFYING THE BASELINE
Baseline/Reference. The baseline (or reference) is any datum against which change
is measured.
Socio-economic baseline statistics on the Data Distribution Centre:
• Population and human development
• Economic Conditions
• Land cover/land use
• Water
• Agriculture/food
• Energy
• Biodiversity
The climatological baseline
• Variables
• Spatial scale
• Temporal resolution
iii) SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA AND SCENARIOS
The main purposes of socio-economic scenarios in the assessment of climate impacts,
adaptation and vulnerability are:
1. To characterise the demographic, socio-economic and technological driving
forces underlying anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate
change; and
2. To characterise the sensitivity, adaptive capacity and vulnerability of social and
economic systems in relation to climate change.
The major underlying cause of rapid changes in atmospheric composition is human
economic activity, in particular emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols, and changing land
cover and land use.
The (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) IPCC published a set of emissions
scenarios for use in climate change studies:
1. The (Special Report on Emissions Scenario) SRES emissions scenarios:
i. The SRES scenarios were constructed to explore future developments
in the global environment with special reference to the production of
greenhouse gases and aerosol precursor emissions.
2. Post-SRES "stabilisation" scenarios
i. To consider scenarios that is designed to mitigate climate change.
3. The IS92 emissions scenarios
i. Six alternative scenarios (IS92a to f)
ii. These scenarios embodied a wide array of assumptions affecting how
future greenhouse gas emissions might evolve in the absence of
climate policies beyond those already adopted.
iv) CLIMATE DATA AND SCENARIOS
Is a plausible indication of what the future could be like over decades or centuries, given a
specific set of assumptions. These assumptions include future trends in energy demand,
emissions of greenhouse gases, land use change as well as assumptions about the behaviour
of the climate system over long time scales.
i.) Criteria for selecting climate scenarios
• Criterion 1: Consistency with global projections.
They should be consistent with a broad range of
global warming projections based on increased
concentrations of greenhouse gases.
• Criterion 2: Physical plausibility.
They should be physically plausible; that is, they
should not violate the basic laws of physics.
Hence, changes in one region should be physically
consistent with those in another region and
globally.
• Criterion 3: Applicability in impact assessments.
They should describe changes in a sufficient
number of variables on a spatial and temporal scale
that allows for impact assessment.
 • Criterion 4: Representative
They should be representative of the potential
range of future regional climate change.
• Criterion 5: Accessibility.
They should be straightforward to obtain, interpret
and apply for impact assessment.

Types of climate scenarios

Three main classes:
1. synthetic scenarios
2. analogue scenarios
3. scenarios based on outputs
1. Developing and using realistic hydrological models
In general, we develop and apply hydrological models for two main reasons:
process understanding and scenario analysis.
2. Understanding better the linkages and feedbacks between climate and hydrological systems.

Impacts on Water Resources and Hazards

The preceding sections have assessed the potential effect of climate change on riverflows,
groundwater recharge and other biophysical components of the water resource base, and demands for
that resource. The consequences, or impacts, of such changes on risk or resource reliability depend not
only on the biophysical changes in streamflow, recharge, sea-level rise, and water quality but also on the
characteristics of the water management system.

Hazard
- a natural phenomenon and a situation where there is threat to life, health, environment,
property & society
- takes place without taking into account whether the place is highly populated or desolate
Disaster
- is an event that completely disrupts the human community and leads to economic loss, loss of
life and has considerable impact on the environment
Earthquake, floods, tsunamis, landslides, etc. are few examples of both hazard and disaster
But a hazard is called a disaster when it affects human population.
When any hazard strike an area having no population, although it still has destruction properties, it is
termed as disaster.

Water-related Hazards
1. Flood
- an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry
- are of many types including flash flood, riverine flood, coastal floods etc.
Factors contributing to floods are: rainfall intensity, duration of rainfall, topography, soil
condition and ground cover.
 Flash Flood occurs due to sudden and intense heavy rainfall, so it gives least amount of warning
time. It can also occur due to tropical storm, failure of dam and human activities. The damage
caused by flash floods can be more severe than damage caused by riverine floods due to high
speed and velocity of water, and debris load.
Riverine Flood is occurs when water runoff collects in river and start overflowing the banks.
Other factors are snowmelt and ice jams. It causes extensive damage to the people living in
nearby areas of rivers and streams.
Coastal Flood occurs when seawater enters into the low lying area near sea/ocean. It is caused
by hurricanes, tropical cyclones and tsunamis along with the area’s topography.

2. Drought
- An extreme climatic event with deficiency in precipitation over an extended period from
months to years
- It is a temporary dry period compared to permanent aridity as in arid areas
- Generally refers to water deficit but may also include meteorological (precipitation),
hydrological (stream flow), or agriculture (crop yield) deficits
- Main causes are: dry season, El Nińo, deficiency in precipitation, erosion, climate change
and human activities
3. Windstorms
- a wind that is strong enough to cause at least light damage to trees and buildings and
may or may not be accompanied by precipitation. Wind speeds during a windstorm
typically exceed 55 km (34 miles) per hour. Wind damage can be attributed to gusts
(short bursts of high-speed winds) or longer periods of stronger sustained winds.
Although tornadoes and tropical cyclones also produce wind damage, they are usually
classified separately.
- Region of low atmospheric pressure surrounded by high atmospheric pressure resulting
in swirling atmospheric disturbance accompanied by powerful winds blowing
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere
4. Landslides
- is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope. Landslides
are a type of "mass wasting," which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock
under the direct influence of gravity. The term "landslide" encompasses five modes of
slope movement: falls, topples, slides, spreads, and flows. These are further subdivided
by the type of geologic material (bedrock, debris, or earth). Debris flows (commonly
referred to as mudflows or mudslides) and rock falls are examples of common landslide
types.
5. Wave & Surges
Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted
astronomical tide.
- It’s the change in the water level that is due to the presence of the storm
 - Since storm surge is a difference between water levels, it does not have a reference
level
Storm tide is the water level rise during a storm due to the combination of storm surge and the
astronomical tide.
- Since storm tide is the combination of surge and tide, it does require a reference level
- A 15 ft. storm surge on top of a high tide that is 2 ft. above mean sea level produces a 17
ft. storm tide.

 Water-related Hazards & Climate Change

Water-related hazards like floods, droughts, pollution and related issues, are increasing in
frequency and intensity almost everywhere around the globe due to population growth and
effects of climate change.
 Flood protection measurements
Increased rainfall intensity and duration is causing more extensive flooding in both rural and
urban areas. In coastal regions, intensified hurricanes and storm surges lead to increased
damage, affecting areas that until recently were not even perceived to be vulnerable. Flood
protection measures that seemed adequate in the past, often no longer serve their purpose.
 Effects of floods and droughts
In other parts of the world, prolonged drought periods are reducing water supplies and
often lead to severe food shortage. That is why securing water availability is one of the major
challenges for the coming century: potential ‘wars on water’ already pose a real threat to peace
in a number of shared river basins around the world.
Environmental degration and poor water quality conditions impose severe threats to human
health. The spreading of water borne diseases already leads to larger numbers of casualties than
the direct effect of floods. Education on causes and consequences of water pollution is badly
needed on a global scale.
Protection against extremes of floods and droughts not only requires proper spatial
planning at the local, regional and river basin scale, but also taking structural and non-structural
measures. Building reservoirs for increasing water security can help reducing floods or avoiding
droughts, but how to operate the reservoirs and achieve a fair balance between often
conflicting interests in scarce resources? And how can we minimize the environmental impacts
of reservoirs and dams? Non-structural measures like early warning systems can save lives, but
how to reach people in remote areas in time? These are all research issues that receive
considerable attention at IHE Delft.
 Water quality standards
In order to assure proper water quality standards, adequate measures need to be taken to
avoid pollution. First and foremost this requires education, but research and capacity
development, the key competences of IHE Delft, are all important as well. Installing monitoring
systems is vital for assessing water quality conditions, but how to maintain such systems?
Preparing for calamity situations is crucial for saving lives, but how to finance emergency
management and training? Setting up Learning Alliances to jointly generate answers is just one
focus area of research at IHE Delft.
Related Chair Groups
 Coastal Systems and Engineering and Port Development
 Flood Resilience
 Hydrology and Water Resources
 River Basin Development
 The Coastal Systems and Engineering and Port Development Chair Group deals with the analysis,
design and management of natural and man-made systems in the coastal environment. It deals
with the defence, protection and management of coastal zones and the planning and the design
of ports and harbours.
 The Flood Resilience chair group (FRG) aims at advancing and disseminating scientific knowledge
and practical application of resilience for flood and drought risk management.
 The Hydrology and Water Resources Chair Group investigates hydrological processes supporting
sustainable development and applies new knowledge in education, capacity development, and
technical assistance programmes. We focus on catchment scale hydrological processes,
ecohydrology, hydrology of peri-urban areas, and global environmental change processes.
 The River Basin Development chair group investigates processes in the natural and built
environment, which are determinant for the design and planning of sustainable water
infrastructures prepared for global change.
Societal Characteristics
Societal characteristics that maximize susceptibility to climate change include:
1. Poverty and low income levels, which prevent long-term planning and provisioning at the
household level.
2. Lack of water control infrastructures.
3. Lack of maintenance and deterioration of existing infrastructure.
4. Lack of human capital skills for system planning and management.
5. Lack of appropriate, empowered institutions.
6. Absence of appropriate land-use planning.
7. High population densities and other factors that inhibit population mobility.
8. Increasing demand for water because of rapid population growth.
9. Conservative attitudes toward risk
10. Lack of formal links among the various parties involved in water management.

What is Watershed?
- A watershed is simply the geographic area through which water flows across the land and
drains into a common body of water, whether a stream, river, lake, or ocean. The watershed
boundary will more or less follow the highest ridgeline around the stream channels and
meet at the bottom or lowest point of the land where water flows out of the watershed, the
mouth of the waterway.
- A watershed is an area of land and water bounded by a drainage divide within which the
surface runoff collects and flows out of the watershed through a single outlet into a lager
river (or) lake.
Why are watersheds important?
- Watersheds are important because the surface water features and storm water runoff
within a watershed ultimately drain to other bodies of water. It is essential to consider these
downstream impacts when developing and implementing water quality protection and
 restoration actions. Everything upstream ends up downstream. We need to remember that
we all live downstream and that our everyday activities can affect downstream water
Watershed Management
- Management of the environment has been primarily focus on specific issues such as air,
land, and water. Most efforts have resulted in decreasing pollutant emissions to air and
water, improved landfills, remediation of waste sites and contaminated groundwater,
protection of rare and endangered species, design of best management practices to control
water and contaminant runoff, and much more.

Objectives of watershed management

The different objectives of watershed management programs are:

1. To control damaging runoff and degradation and thereby conservation of soil and water.
2. To manage and utilize the runoff water for useful purpose.
3. To protect, conserve and improve the land of watershed for more efficient and sustained
production.
4. To protect and enhance the water resource originating in the watershed.
5. To check soil erosion and to reduce the effect of sediment yield on the watershed.
6. To rehabilitate the deteriorating lands.
7. To moderate the floods peaks at downstream areas.
8. To increase infiltration of rainwater.
9. To improve and increase the production of timbers, fodder and wild life resource.
10. To enhance the ground water recharge, wherever applicable.

The world have encountered enough challenges that call for watershed management, among them:
pollution, Chemicals disposal, and loss of habitat, interruption of water flow, pathogen attacks, and
invasion of alien species. However, the main problems contributing to these are:
I. Development of industries.
II. Interruption of water flow.
III. Development of urban centers.
IV. Poor fishing methods.
Development of industries
o Despite the numerous efforts put in by global institutions to reduce pollution
through clean technology, Industrial activities are still emitting toxic chemicals,
metal deposits, and petroleum products. The consequence of this being an increase
in health risks, this is so when fish and wildlife are poisoned and humans consume
the fish. In addition, economic stability is shaken when tourism is jeopardized by
closed fish beds in the world as a whole.
Interruption of Water flow
 o Once flow of natural water flow is interrupted, there is massive loss that is incurred.
This interruption is realized when there is construction of dams, diversion of water
for irrigation, development, construction, industry, and household use.
Development of Urban Centers
o Invasion of natural area by human being with the aim of converting them to urban
centre has become a major challenge to watershed management. It also possesses a
challenge of decline in fish and wildlife because they are forced to migrate and
others die. Chemicals, loss of habitat, alteration of water flow and disposal of waste
into water resources by human beings adversely affect aquatic ecosystems.

Poor Fishing Methods

o While fishing is beneficial for trade, food, and economic growth, it is a potential
challenge for watershed management. It is so when poor methods of fishing are
used. Overfishing and other methods that can results in alteration and damage of
fish habitats, also this affect the population of some species and worst, extinction of
some species.

Watershed Protection
Tools in watershed protection:

Tool 1. Land Use Planning Tool 2. Land Conservation

Tool 3. Aquatic Buffers

Tool 4. Better Site Design

Tool 5. Erosion and Sediment Control

Tool 6. Stormwater Best Management Practices

Tool 7. Non-Stormwater Discharges

Tool 8. Watershed Stewardship Programs

Tool #1: Land Use Planning

Since impervious cover has such a strong influence on subwatershed quality, a watershed
manager must critically analyze the degree and location of future development (and impervious cover)
that is expected to happen in a watershed. Consequently, land use planning ranks as perhaps the single
most important watershed protection tool. When preparing a watershed plan, a watershed manager
needs to do the following:

• Predict what will happen to water resources in the face of future land use change.

• Obtain consensus on the most important water resource goals for the watershed.

• Develop a future land use pattern for the subwatersheds within the watershed that can meet
those goals.
• Select the most acceptable and effective land use planning technique to reduce or shift future
impervious cover.

• Select the most appropriate combination of other watershed protection tools to apply to
individual subwatersheds.

• Devise an ongoing management structure to adopt and implement the watershed plan.

Tool #2: Land Conservation

While the first tool emphasizes how much impervious cover is created in a watershed, the second tool
concerns itself with land conservation. Five types of land may need to be conserved in a subwatershed:

• Critical habitats for plant and animal communities

• Aquatic corridors along streams and shorelines

• Hydrologic reserve areas that sustain a stream’s hydrologic regime

• Water hazards that pose a risk of potential pollution spills

• Cultural/ historical areas that are important to our sense of place

Tool #3: Aquatic Buffers

The aquatic corridor, where land and water meet, deserves special protection in the form of
buffers. A buffer can be placed along a stream or shoreline or around a natural wetland. A buffer has
many uses and benefits. Its primary use is to physically protect and separate a stream, lake or wetland
channel from future disturbance or encroachment. For streams, a network of buffers acts as a right-
of-way during floods and sustains the integrity of stream ecosystems and habitats. Technically, a
buffer is one type of land conservation area, but it’s functional importance in watershed protection
merits some discussion on how they work and why they are important.
Tool #4: Better Site Design
Individual development projects can be designed to reduce the amount of impervious cover they
create, and increase the natural areas they conserve. Many innovative site planning techniques have
been shown to sharply reduce the impact of new development. Designers, however, are often not
allowed to use these techniques in many communities because of outdated local zoning, parking or
subdivision codes.
Four better design strategies that have special merit for subwatershed protection include:
1. Open space residential subdivisions
2. Green parking lots
3. Headwater streets
4. Rooftop runoff management

Tool #5: Erosion and Sediment Control

Perhaps the most destructive stage of the development cycle is the relatively short period when
vegetationis cleared and a site is graded to create a buildable landscape. The potential impacts to
receiving waters are particularly severe at this stage. Trees and topsoil are removed, soils are exposed
to erosion, natural topography and drainage patterns are altered, and sensitive areas are often
disturbed.
Tool #6: Stormwater Treatment Practices
A watershed manager needs to make careful choices about what stormwater treatment practices
need to be installed in the subwatershed to compensate for the hydrological changes caused by new
and existing development. The key choice is to determine what are the primary stormwater objectives
for a subwatershed that will the govern the selection, design and location of stormwater practices at
individual development sites. While the specific design objectives for stormwater practices are often
unique to each subwatershed, the general goals for stormwater are often the same:
• Maintain groundwater recharge and quality
• Reduce stormwater pollutant loads
•Protect stream channels
•Prevent increased overbank flooding
•Safely convey extreme floods
Stormwater treatment practices are used to delay, capture, store, treat or infiltrate stormwater
runoff. There are five broad groups of structural stormwater management practices:
• Ponds • Wetlands • Infiltration
• Filtering systems • Open channel
Tool #7. Non-Stormwater Discharges
This tool concerns itself with how wastewater and other non-stormwater flows are treated and
discharged in a watershed. In some watersheds, non-stormwater discharges can contribute significant
pollutant loads to receiving waters. Key program elements consist of
inspections of private septic systems, repair or replacement of failing systems, utilizing more advanced
onsite septic controls, identifying and eliminating illicit connections from municipal stormwater
systems, and spill prevention.
Tool #8: Watershed Stewardship Programs
Once a subwatershed is developed, communities still need to invest in ongoing watershed
stewardship. The goal of watershed stewardship is to increase public understanding and awareness
about watersheds, promote better stewardship of private lands, and develop funding to sustain
watershed management efforts.
There are six basic programs that watershed managers should consider to promote a greater
watershed stewardship:
• Watershed Advocacy • Watershed Education
• Pollution Prevention • Watershed Maintenance
• Indicator Monitoring • Restoration
Agencies Involved in the Collection of Hydrologic Data in the Philippines
The main goal of the collection of hydrologic data in hydrology is to provide a set of sufficient good
quality data that can be used in decision-making in all aspects of water resources management, operations,
and in research.

There are a total of six (6) agencies in the Philippines listed as follows:

National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)

Responsible for providing public with mapmaking services and acting as the central mapping agency.

National Power Corporation (NPC)

Primarily responsible for the collection of stream flow data.

National Irrigation Administration (NIA)

Responsible in gathering and reporting water discharge data.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Receives funds from the data-collection telemetry equipment used for its instillation, operational
and maintenance.

National Water Resource Board (NWRB)

Responsible for providing project investigation, planning design methods and standards for data
collection, including rules and regulations for the utilization of water resources.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services and Administration (PAG-ASA)

The data collected will be used for weather and flood forecasting and various research projects of
the agency.
References:

https://www.britannica.com/science/windstorm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UNdsXMhUgg
https://www.un-ihe.org/water-related-hazards-climate-change-0
https://www.un-ihe.org/chair-groups/coastal-systems-engineering-port-
development
https://www.un-ihe.org/chair-groups/flood-resilience
https://www.un-ihe.org/chair-groups/hydrology-water-resources
https://www.un-ihe.org/chair-groups/river-basin-development
https://unfccc.int/resource/cd_roms/na1/v_and_a/Resoursce_materials/Climate/Sc
enarioData.pdf
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/surge/surge_intro.pdf
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-landslide-and-what-causes-one?qt-
news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UNdsXMhUgg