Ormoc Bay named water quality management area

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has designated Leyte province's Ormoc Bay, including its watershed and tributaries, as a water quality management area (WQMA). Under Department Administrative Order No. 2013-21 issued by DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje, Ormoc Bay will be placed under close monitoring by authorities to ensure that its water quality complies with the standards set forth under Republic Act No, 9275 or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.

Paje said the designation of Ormoc Bay as WQMA was intended to formulate a comprehensive management program to promote environmental strategies and appropriate economic instruments, as well as control mechanisms, for the protection of the water body. "With Ormoc City’s economy on the upswing, putting the entire Ormoc Bay under a regime of a comprehensive management program is imperative given its centrality to the commercial and agricultural vibrancy of Leyte province," Paje said. The environment chief noted that the bay area is affected by the activities in the 425-hectare Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE) located in the nearby town of Isabel.

LIDE houses the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Plant, Asia’s largest fertilizer plant, and the Philippine Associated Smelter And Refining Company, the biggest copper processing plant in the country. Paje said the designation will fast track the harmonization of water quality management activities within the area with other programs and initiatives so that water quality standards are met according to the intended uses of the concerned waterways. "This latest WQMA declaration is a reiteration of the Aquino administration's resolve to institutionalize sound environmental policies as a pre-requisite to inclusive and sustainable growth," Paje said.

Ormoc Bay is classified as "Class SC" or suitable for recreational uses and fishing, while its associated river systems are categorized as "Class C" for inland water bodies and are likewise recommended for fishing and recreational uses. Its tributaries include numerous small basins that drain the municipalities of Albuera and Merida, and the Ormoc-Kananga Basin which had been identified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as among the top 12 groundwater reservoirs in the country. Paje said the important role of these water resources in the sustainable development of the province of Leyte, together with the presence of numerous threats to the quality of such resources and the need to foster inter-agency cooperation in the protection, monitoring and management were the key reasons for the designation of Ormoc Bay as WQMA.

The WQMA covers a total area of 79,836 hectares, and is comprised of a watershed or terrestrial area of 54,906 hectares and an offshore water or bay area of 24,930 hectares. Under the Clean Water Act, the DENR, in coordination with the National Water Resources Board, is mandated to designate certain areas as WQMAs using appropriate physiographic units such as watershed, river basins, or water resources regions to effectively enforce its provisions and improve the water quality of water bodies. The law seeks to provide a decentralized management system for water quality protection and improvement of river systems. Likewise, the DENR is tasked to create a governing board for each WQMA, which is chaired by a regional director of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB). Its members include the mayor and governor of the concerned local government unit and representatives of relevant national government agencies, duly registered non-government organizations and business and water utility sectors.

The governing board serves as a planning, monitoring and coordinating body. It also reviews the WQMA action plan prepared by the EMB. The DENR and the stakeholders address the water quality problems, sources of pollution and the beneficial use of the receiving water body. They also determine what control measures to institute to effectively achieve water quality objectives or improvements.