BROUGHT by DROUGHT

Have you ever tried walking under the sun for a couple of minutes? You get thirsty so you sip water from your hydro bottle or even buy refreshments in nearest store. At home, you take a refreshing shower to soothe your tired body. You drink plenty of water to re-hydrate yourself. You also wash your dusted clothes for another weekend of classes.

Truly, our lifestyle depends much on water. But, have you ever wonder where water comes from? “From the faucet,” Of course from the faucet! But look beyond the pipes laid under our house, have we ever ask ourselves where our water supply comes from? And; for that matter, where it goes after we used it?

At first, I thought La Mesa Dam is the main source of our water supply? Oh-oh. Although the La Mesa Dam supplies raw water, it is not the primary source. It is just a reservoir which is filled by water coming from rainfall, from its own watershed run-off and surrounding tributaries and, of course, from the Ipo Dam. Water coming from rain and in-flows from nearby streams is almost negligible since majority of La Mesa Dam’s water comes from Ipo Dam.

Previously knowing that a watershed was just a body of water such a lake or a big river. I found out wrong. I learned that a watershed actually comprises not just an inland body of water but also the area of land where water flows across or through on its way to a particular water body such as a stream, river, wetland or a lake. This body of water is the lowest point within a watershed and it serves as the collecting reservoir of all after that passes through the watershed.

How if our water supplies went to its deficit state? Do we able to perform our daily personal necessities? How about our agricultural sector? Of course, we won’t. We’ve already experiencing El Niño’s upshot and before we experience its worse effect, let us awakened and act accordingly. It is very clear that the major causes are the continuous destruction of our ozone due to our inhumane acts, rampant illegal loggings and kaingin, improper burning of plastics and throwing of wastes, patronizing CFC products that cause pollution as like as domino effect.
We have been hearing and hearing over the news about soil droughts and grass fires regarding our mountains caused by global warming. In Central Luzon, which serves up as our agricultural basket and water source where Ipo and Angat dam is locatd, rice fields needing water supply from dams are on it’s very critical stage as it concerns us all.

I would like to point out our watersheds needing trees to ensure a steady supply of clean drinking water for us. Without forest cover, there will be a reduced supply of water especially during this summer season. Because of deforestation, the soil easily dries up or desiccates causing freshwater shortage and even destroyed a million of crops. The increased reflectivity of sunlight from barren land warms up the atmosphere, reduces and disperses clouds, and may eventually cause a decrease in rainfall. Trees keep the water supply in a watershed intact.
As students, we can do a lot to save our land from deforestation. We all brag about being the first in everything, being the coolest. Why not brag about being the first to reforest lands destroyed by kaingin? Tell your story to the world so that they will also help in the protection and rehabilitation of our land, plant trees and be a responsible stewards of His creation.

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect” a quotation from A Sand County Almanac


DONA CHARMAINE P. DELIZO
BJ3-1D