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THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR ARATIONALIZED, ECOSYSTEM-BASED AND INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN

MANAGEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES¹Vicente B. Tuddao, Jr. PhD.²

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

INTRODUCTION:

The Philippine river basins are important and vital natural resources of the countrybecause it support major economic, ecological and social needs of the country’s growingpopulation. Huge investments have been poured to develop river basin resources with the

objective of not only providing sustained ecological integrity but also to generate incomefrom projects such as hydropower generation, irrigation facilities, flood control structures,water delivery canals and piping systems, transportation facilities, ecotourism projectsand the like, and eventually benefits the government and the people. The three-prongedgoal- social, economic and ecological- underscores the primodial agenda of the need toeffectively manage river basins in order to achieve expected outcomes.

River Basin Management in order to be effective requires employment of prudentinstitutional, operational and technical approaches consistent with the policy framework of optimum management of the country’s environment and natural resources. Because of the very dynamic relationship of the various bio-physical and socio-ecologicalcomponents of the river basin ecosystems, appropriate decision making rests on the threemajor factors: first, updated information of the state of these components, second,availability and accessibility of information, and third, and completeness of data.

The Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources was created underthe laws of the Land under Executive Order no. 192, dated 1987 as the primary Nationalgovernment agency responsible for the proper conservation, development, management,protection and sustainable use of the country’s natural resources. Consistent with thispromulgation, the President of the Philippines created the River Basin Control Office(RBCO) under the Department to oversee specifically, the rationalization, harmonizationand integration of various river basin plans and programs and execute appropriateprojects and initiatives within priority river basins. These tasks as mandated to RBCO toeffectively address the absence of a unifying and integrating office that harmonizes andrationalizes all plans and programs geared toward the management, development,protection and rehabilitation of the country’s river basins.________________________________________________________________________¹/ Paper presented and submitted to the Regional Meeting on Hydro-Informatics and Developing Knowledge HubNetworks, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China, 15-17 October 2008.

² Executive Director, River Basin Control Office, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines



MAJOR DECISION SUPPORT-RELATED ISSUES AFFECTING RIVER BASINMANAGEMENT

The major issues and concerns cited in various workshops and water forums include the

following;

Lack of data to Support Decision- Making Process in River Basin Management/Integrated water Resources Management

The established observation stations for meteorological, hydrological, geologic and waterquality monitoring are not sufficient in quantity and location. In the Philippines, the waterresources data are being collected and processed by various concerned agencies and keptin their independent database. The absence of reliable water resources information systemdiminishes the capacity of concerned authorities to make difficult and controversial waterallocation decisions. Beside, it would be difficult for the private sector to invest in the

water sector when reliable water resources-related data are scarce and the means of obtaining them unavailable. Therefore, the improvement of data collection andestablishment of an integrated nation-wide database on water resources is needed.

Weak Decision Support Capability and Inadequate Decision Support Facilities

Poor decision in River Basin Management and IWRM have usually resulted toinefficiency implication. Worse, bad decision in managing resources aggravates criticalsituation such as water use conflict, river basin deterioration and environmental hazards.

The government must focus on strengthening its capacity to generate complete andreliable data, and effectively generate result-based analyses of these data to benefit its useas an input in decision making. Lack of infrastructure facilities are still a commonproblem such as Database Management System, Models System tools, and highly trainedindividuals to develop applicable results of in-depth data analyses.

THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR RIVERBASIN MANAGEMENT

Decision in any management undertakings require great deal of reliable and scientificdata bases and facilities if these are to provide higher probability of success as an inputto decision making process. As such, it shall form an important element of the entiresupport system. In river basin management where layers of issues and Sectoral concernsform the over-all inter-connected and dynamic components of the river basin ecosystems,decision support system must be readily available to be tapped by river basin managers.

In order to recognize the role of decision support system it is important to know the keyelements of river basin management and their relationship in the operationalization of decision system in river basin management in the Philippines:



1. Stakeholders – this involves poverty reduction, stakeholders’ participation,

project ownership, voice and representation.

This refers to providing adequate dimension for involvement and sense of ownership to be mainstreamed in the river basin management and decisionmaking. The ultimate goals are instilling moral responsibility in the managementfabric and making them beneficiaries of the resources, hence, alleviating povertyin the long run. It also emphasizes the important role of the stakeholders,particularly the community in providing reliable data in areas not covered byautomated data measurement and monitoring stations.

In the Philippines, the RBCO recognized the communities as potential sources of data and key manpower in data gathering activities supportive of decisionsupport mechanisms in river basin management

2. Institutions – this involves technical capability strengthening, formation, capacitybuilding, financial sustainability requirement for a better river basinmanagement.,

The institutions lay down the backbone for effective governance of waterresources. Strengthening and building manpower and financial resources makeriver basin management logically sustainable, responsive and effective. Theinstitutions play major role in the establishment and mobilization of theRiver Basin Organizations where decision making should emanate.

3. Environment – preservation of bio-diversity. Protection, mitigation andmonitoring, water resources development and database management.

Water is an essential component of the environment. It is of paramount

importance that water be managed and conserved efficiently to sustain balancedecosystems.

Better understanding of the behavior of the river basins given the dynamicbehavior and influence of the various inter-acting components within it, and theeffect of the outside forces upon its resources status is very vital inputs indecision support system for river basin management.

DENR-RBCO PLANS AND ON-GOING ACTIVITIES RELATING TO STRENTHENINGDECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM IN RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES

1. Full operationalization of the already developed River Basin Integrated InformationManagement system (RBIIMS)

2. Capability building on the use of River Basin System Models developed by US-BasedInternational Initiative Leader-Tetra Tech Consultancy Co, Virginia USA to assist inIWRM decision making especially on the identification of the spatial and temporalprobability of the occurrence of river basin water-related hazards, such as flooding, riverinundation, groundwater and river pollution and chemical contamination, soil erosion, land



creeps, land subsidence, etc. given complete data parameters required in the establishedmodels, and forecasting of other related incidence

3. Completion of the GIS mapping of the river basin including thematic maps needed forover-lay analysis for river basin management.

4. Application of Geographic Information system (GIS) as a potent tool in decision making(ILWIS AND ARCVIEW GIS)

5. Srenghrtening/Organization of River Basin Organization to provide support for sustainedsources of data monitoring within the river basin.

Currently the River Basin Control Office has laid down its scheduled plan of Action inorder to improve its Decision support System Capability in River Basin Management andIntegrated Water Resources management. The Blueprint Action Plan involvesimplementing the three stages, as follows:

STAGE 1(2007)

STAGE 2(2008-2009)

STAGE 3(2010)

FORMULATION OFDENR-RBCO DECISIONSUPPORTDEVELOPMEMENTPLAN

DEVELOPMENT OFRIVER BASININTEGRATEDINFORMATIONMANAGEMENTSYSTEMS (RBIIMS)

INSTALLATION OFRBIIMS IN SYSTEMSOFTWARE AND

HARDWARE SYSTEMSWITHIN RBCOORGANIZATION ANDNETWORKING WITHRIVER BASIN USERS INTHE COUNTRY

CAPABILITY BUILDING



ON THE USE OF RBIIMS

INSTALLATION OFRIVER BASIN MODELSYSTEM (BASIN TOOL

MODELLING SYSTEM)WITHIN RBCO.

TRAINING/CAPABILITYBUILDING ON THE USEOF BASIN SYSTEMMODELLING

COMPLETION OF RIVERBASIN GIS MAPPING

INSTALLATION OFMORE DATAGATHERING ANDMONITORINGSTATIONS WITHINPRIORITY RIVERBASINS (INCOLLABORATUIONWITH OTHERGOVERNMENTAGENCIES AND RIVER

BASINSTAKEHOLDERS)

ESTABLISHMENT OFHARDWARES ANDSOFTWARES, MAPPINGFACILITIES,MONITORINGSTATIONS ANDMANPOWER SUPPORTDEVELOPMENTPROGRAM (INCLUDINGTHE FULL OPERATIONLOCAL AREANETWORKING)

DEVELOPOMENT ANDADOPTION OF POLICYSUPPORT



CONSOLIDATION OFALL DECISIONSUPPORT FACILITIES

INTO AN OPERATIONALINTEGRATED RIVERBASIN DECISIONSUPPORT SYSTEM(IRDSS) IN ALL MAJORRIVER BASINS IN THECOUNTRY

INSTITUIONALIZATIONOF SUSTAINEDFUNDING MECHANISM

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