Philippines plans for El Nino water crisis

Philippine government agencies are banding together to stave off a possible water crisis brought on by El Niño, a weather phenomenon characterized by below-normal rainfall that can lead to dry spells and drought. 

• El Niño may persist until 2024 - PAGASA
• Warmer days ahead: El Niño to develop in second half of 2023, says PAGASA

Sevillo D. David Jr., National Water Resources Board executive director, said his agency is coordinating with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, National Irrigation Administration and other agencies for contingency plans that will prevent a repeat of the water crisis in 2019. 

"I think we are more prepared than before," he said in a TeleRadyo interview, adding that more facilities are now in place at Laguna Lake than in 2019. 

"We need to save water and recycle and be responsible about water use. Yung mga leaks kailangan ayusin na," he added. 

Climate projections by PAGASA earlier showed that El Niño will begin by the third quarter of 2023 or between July and September, and will last until next year.

El Niño is the warm phase of the naturally-occurring climate pattern El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), marked by changes in wind direction and sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. 

Angat Dam, which supplies 96 percent of Metro Manila's water needs, is currently at 199.37 meters, which is still at operating level, the NWRB official said.