DENR urges golf courses to save water amid El Niño

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it is planning to issue a directive urging golf courses in Metro Manila to use recycled water, among other conservation measures, to help mitigate the effects of El Niño.

Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna made the statement during a Palace press briefing on Monday, after he was asked if the agency plans to renew a 2024 directive for golf courses to use recycled water when irrigating their fairways, greens, tees, rough, grass patches, and plants.

“Actually, it’s not just them. The directive will be repeated, but we will also give a directive on other measures that can be done by the public. Isn’t there a saying that ‘it is better to lose electricity than water?’” Cuna said in Filipino.

“We cannot be ‘business as usual.’ Every individual, all citizens, need to do their part by conserving water. The unnecessary use [of water], such as car washing, soaking of driveways and swimming pools, is unnecessary at this time,” he added.

According to Cuna, other water conservation measures that the public can undertake include rainwater harvesting, especially with the constant storms being experienced by the country.

He also encouraged the public to reuse “grey water,” which is gently used water generated from household activities such as laundry, showering, and cooking, to water plants.

Cuna said the DENR, through the Water Resource Management Office, will work with local government units (LGUs) to implement water conservation measures.

He also assured that the water level of Angat Dam, which supplies 90 percent of the water in the National Capital Region, remains “steady” at 208 meters.

Should a water shortage occur, Cuna said the DENR is already working with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and other water concessionaires to ensure that mobile and stationary water tankers will be placed in strategic areas.

Moreover, he urged residents to report any potential “leakages,” saying that a lot of water is wasted because of them.

In the same briefing, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) also warned that all provinces in the country are expected to experience drought or very dry conditions by March 2027 due to the increasing effects of El Niño.

“[T]he effects are being felt, but it can get worse next year based on the amount of rain that will happen. And I’d like to reiterate again, how we will be affected by it is dependent on how much preparation we have and the conservation of water that we will do,” DOST Secretary Renato Solidum said. /mcm