Challenges and opportunities in watershed management for Laguna de Bay (Philippines)

Abstract

AbstractLaguna de Bay is the largest lake in the Philippines and the second largest freshwater lake in South‐East Asia. The lake is shallow with a mean depth of only 2.8 m. Rice paddies, sugar cane fields, coconut plantations and other agricultural fields make up large portions of the catchment area, although there is also extensive urbanization and industrialization. As industry and population around the lake have grown, the lake and its tributaries have become overwhelmed by industrial, commercial, agricultural and domestic pollution resulting in massive fish kills and polluted water. Laguna de Bay is under the management and protection of a national government agency known as Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA). In 1983, the LLDA was given the power to control and abate pollution within the Laguna de Bay watershed. The mandate of the LLDA includes the environmental regeneration and sustainable development and use of the lake’s waters, fisheries and wetlands. The LLDA receives no federal funds but it retains and uses collected fees from regulated industries. The LLDA has instituted an environmental‐user fee or pollution‐charge system that has given corporations an incentive to construct and use wastewater treatment plants at a lower cost than the required fees for dumping waste into Laguna de Bay. User fees provide more flexibility about how and when a user or industrial facility cleans up its manufacturing process. Many medium‐ and large‐sized domestic and multinational corporations have achieved at least 30–50% reductions in pollution loads. The user fees also encourage industry water conservation. Other creative approaches to conserving Laguna de Bay include ‘Environmental Armies’ that consist of volunteers who clean up river banks, demolish illegal fish pens and install low‐cost garbage traps at the river’s mouth. ‘Poison Awards’ are given annually and publicly to companies that continue to dump large amounts of waste into lake tributaries. Organizers also name a ‘Most Improved Company’ to provide a positive incentive. Laguna de Bay stakeholders face a severe shortage of resources to continue their work. Innovative strategies are needed to achieve pollution reductions from smaller industries