CRI

TIQUEPAPER

RAI
NWATERHARVESTI
NG

CETE2(
Sani
tar
yEngi
neer
ing)

Col
l
egeofEngi
neer
ingandAr
chi
tect
ure

Sai
ntJosephI
nstit
uteofTechnol
ogy
ButuanCit
y

Kennet
hF.Dacul
a

May26,
,2020
I
NTRODUCTI
ON

Inat ropical countrysuchast hePhi l

ippines,abundantr ai
nf al
l isconsideredawat err esourcefor
dev elopmentandy etiti
snotf ull
yusedduet othe seasonal it
y ofi t
soccur r
ence. Rainwat er
har vesting thr oughsmal lwat eri mpoundi ngprojects(SWI Ps)addr essestheunbal ancedr ainf
all
distributionbycol l
ectingandst oringdi r
ectrainfall
and  sur f
acer unoff 
forfutureuse.SWI Ps
ser vi
ngasr ainwaterhar vestingandst oragest r
ucturesconsi stofan
ear t
h  embankment ,
 spil
lway ,out letwor ksandcanal faci l
i
t i
es.Theyar eusuallylocat edin
i
nt ermi ttentcr eeksorwat ercour seswi thpot enti
alusesf ori r
rigation,f
ishery,l
ivestockwat eri
ng,
anddomest icuses.SWI Pswer eimpl ement edbyt heBur eauofSoi l
sandWat erManagement
(BSWM)oft heDepar tmentofAgr i
cultureasear lyast he1950spr imari
lyforsoilandwat er
conser vation.I n1976,ashi ftoccur redinf l
oodcont rol priorit
iesf rom tr
aditi
onal protectiv
e
struct urest osmal l-
scalei mpoundi ngreser v
oirsorret ardingbasi nsattheupperr eachesof
ri
v ersandst reamswhi l
esi mul taneousl yusingt heimpoundedwat erformor epr oduct i
ve
economi cuses.

Asidef r
om economi cbenef i
ts,
SWI Pshav eani mpor tantr oleinenhanci ngthemul ti
-
functi
onalityofagr iculturepar t
icul
ar l
yi ntheupl ands( Concepci onetal .,2006) .Itoffer
san
opportunityfori ntegr atingthev ari
ousaspect sofsoi landwat ermov ementf rom thet i
meand
placethatr ai
nf ellasi treachedt hegr oundandf lowedasr unofforper col at
edi ntothe
groundwat err eserv oir,orwascapt uredi nasur facereser voir,andper hapswasr eleasedto
l
oweragr i
cultur all
andscapes.Ther esultsofSWI Pper for
mancer evi
ewsandassessment si
n
2002—2003i ndi cat edt hatsomehadachi evedorev ensur passedt heirexpect edeconomi c
performances.Howev er,thereweresy stemsper f
ormi ngbel owt heexpect edlev elduetonatur
al,
technicaland  socio- economi cf act
or s 
(Cont reras&Samar ,2004).Yet ,rainwat erharvesti
ng
throughSWI Psr emai nsoneoft hekeygov ernmenti nt erventionst ocont ri
butet othecount r
y's
i
rrigat
iondev elopmentpr ogram andanopt ionf or cl
i
mat echangeadapt at i
on.

Farmersal sorecogni zedt heimportanceofSWI Psast heyf requent l

yr equestt heest ablishment
ofadditional SWI Psint heirrespecti
vear eas.Asweat herbecomesmor esever eand
unpredictabl eduet ocl i
mat echange, anewpar adigm i nt hemanagementofr ainwateri s
requir
ed( Han,2006) .Thi snewpar adigm involvest hedev el
opmentofsmal lscal edet ention
pondsorr ainwaterst oragef aci
li
ti
es, i
nsteadofl arger emot epr ojects,witheachsmal lscal e
facil
i
typr omot ingmul ti
-purposerainwatermanagementr at
hert hansinglepur pose  wat ershed
management .Suchf aci l
it
iescouldnotonl ypr eventfloodi ng, butcoul dalsor educet heef fect
of dr
ought  
withrainwat erbeingconser vedf orimmedi ateorf utureuse.Thecaseofr ainwat er
harvesti
ngf aci
lit
iesinTal ugtog,Nuev aEci j
aPhi l
ippinesr eflect sthisnewpar adigm.Cl ustersof
rai
nwat erhar vestingf acil
it
ieswerei mplement edi nprev iousy earsthrought hei nit
iati
v eoft he
l
ocal gov ernmentuni t( LGU)andnat i
onal governmentagenci es.
Cogni zantofthecont inuingpromot i
onofSWI Psandi nref
erencet ot
hisnewpar adi
gm, t
his
studyanal yzesthepr ospectandchal l
engesofr ai
nwaterharvesti
ngasstrategi
crural
i
nf r
ast r
uctureinthePhi li
ppineuplandcommuni t
y.Ital
sorevi
ewst hemulti-
purposenatur
eof
SWI Psbyev al
uatingtheirmulti-
functi
onal
it
yi nter
msofsoci o-economicandenv i
ronmental
services,andtheirper f
ormanceov erthey
ear sofimplementati
onasabasi sforthepromotion
ofrainwat erharvesti
ngi nthePhili
ppineuplands.

Resear
chmet
hodol
ogy

Themethodologyi
nvol
vesthegather
ingofpri
maryandsecondarydataandr
eviewi
ngprevi
ous
st
udiesofSWIPsinTal
ugtog,NuevaEcij
a.Fort
hepurposeofthi
sstudy,t
hefol
l
owingacti
vi
ties
wereunder
taken:

1.
Prof
il
ingofSWI
Ps;

2.Si
tev
ali
dat
ionandf
iel
dinspect
ion;

3.Keyi
nfor
manti nt
ervi
ew[i.e.
,wi
thpr
esi
dent
sofSmal
lWat
erI
mpoundi
ngSy
stem Associ
ati
ons
(SWISA)asrespondents];

4.Focusgr
oupdi
scussi
onwi
thl
ocal
gov
ernmentof
fi
ci
als;

5.Assessmentofi
nher
entenv
ironment
alandsoci
o-economi
cfunct
ionsofSWI
Pint
hest
udy
area;

6.Rev
iewofr
elat
edst
udi
esunder
takeni
nthepastatt
hest
udyar
ea.

Pr
  of
il
ingofSWI
Ps

Thepr of
il
ingofSWI Psinthest udyar eawasundert
akenbasedonav ai
lablerecordsoftheLGU
ofTalugtog,NuevaEcija.AsofJune2013, themunici
pali
tyhadeightSWI PScur r
entl
yin
operati
onandoneunderconst ruction.Theproj
ectprof
il
ewasr eviewedandcompar edwiththe
BSWM r ecord.St
art
edi n1992, theseSWI Psaredi
stri
butedinsevenneighboringuplandlocal
vi
ll
ages.Gener al
l
y,thesev i
l
lagesar enotservedbyanymaj or 
i
rri
gati
onsy stem becauseofthei
r
l
ocation.Theyarerelyi
ngon  r
ainwat erhar
vesti
ng 
toproducetwocr opsofr i
ceay ear.
CONCLUSI
ON

Rainwat erhar v
esting throughsmal lwat erimpoundi ngpr ojects(SWI Ps)iswel lrecogni zedas
prov i
dingbot henv ironment al andsocio-economi cfunct ions.Bycol l
ect i
ngandst or i
ngr ai
nwater
and sur f
acer unoff 
inst rategiclocationswi thinawat ershed, r
ainwat erharvestingcanr educe
fl
ood  peakdi schar ge, t
hev ol
umeandf orceofr unof fandsubsequent l
yi t
ser odingpower .When
establishedascl ust ersofsmal lwater i
mpoundment s,it
si mpact st opr eventnotonl ylocal
fl
oodi ngbutal solar gescal ef l
oodingcanbeachi eved.I naddi t
ion, theconser v
edr ai
nwat ercan
beusedi nmor epr oduct iveandeconomi cappl i
cationssuchas  suppl ement alirr
igation and
i
nlandf i
shpr oduct ion.Thecl usterofSWI Psi nTalugt og,Nuev aEci jaisat estcaset ogai nthe
neededmoment um t opur sueanat i
onal policyonr ainwat erhar vestingwi thpar t
icipationof
l
ocal gov ernmentandst rongcommuni ty-
basedf ar mer sor ganization.Put ti
ngt hel ocal
environment alandsoci o-economi cgai nsandt hechal l
engesofTal ugt ogNuev aEci j
ai ntoa
national perspect i
ve, afut ureroadmaponr ainwaterhar v est
ingshoul dconsi dert hef oll
owing
path:

1.I
denti
fyandpr
iori
ti
zecri
ti
calwatershedswherer
ainwaterhar
vest
ingcoul
dpr
ovi
dea
sat
isf
actor
yenvi
ronmentalandsocio-economi
cimpact;

2.Withi
nawat ershed,
locat
epot enti
alcl
ust
ersofsub-wat
ershedsi
nwhi chtoestabli
shsmall
-
scal
edetenti
onpondsorr eservoir
ssuchasSWI Pas"afir
stli
neofdefense"againstf
loodi
ng
duri
ngtherainyseasonthatcouldbemanagedbyf armersformult
ipl
eeconomi cusesduri
ng
thedryseason;

3.Str
engthenlocalgov
ernmentuni
tpart
ici
pat
iononr
ainwat
erhar
vest
ingpr
ogr
amsand
encouragepri
vatesect
orinv
olvement
;

4.I
ntensi
fypubl
icawar
enesst
hrougheducat
ioncampai
gnst
ogai
nsuppor
tandadv
ocacyf
rom
al
lsector
s;and

5.Establi
shamoni t
ori
ngmechani sm t
odet
erminet
helongter
m envi
ronmental
and 
soci
o-
economi cimpact
s ofr
ainwaterharv
esti
ngwit
hthenewparadi
gm ofclust
eri
ngSWIPwit
hina
watershedasanewdi rect
ionfordevel
opment.