MY RIVER RUNS DRY...Right after the feast of Santo Nino....February, 2010

Drought at the Farm, thanks to "El Nino"

Whoever will get the job of President of the Philippines better have a plan on how the country can deal with the effects of "EL NINO." I wonder will the new president play golf?

I wonder if any of these politicians have that desire to change things for the good of the Filipino. If the next President will have  balls , he has got to stop urban sprawl.

If there is one thing that will become a major concern of every nation in this century, it will be WATER!

Urban sprawl has not only been  enroaching on the once lush watershed areas like the Cavite uplands. Urban sprawl is putting a very hard demand to divert water from agriculture to home showers, and lawns...and worse to water the damn golf course greens for the benefit of a few members and tourists using the facilities.

We don't need another golf course...we need more reserviors and implementation of the laws against water pollution. Right now, the lessons of the floods of Typhoon Ondoy have been forgotten. Once again, rivers, and esteros are blocked by squatter families building houses on the easement near creeks in the city. There is a flotilla of deadly plastic debris, and the water is black and poisoned with chemical pollution, human and animal fecal matter.

El Nino spares no one and unless by some Divine intervention we have rain soon, I will have to draw water from the nearby Biluso river. I really feel desperate,  knowing that this same river is the dumping ground for herbicides and pesticides from our neighbor, Riviera Golf and Country Club. I am resorting to buying delivered water from a private company. Our place was located within the wateshed area of Silang. My wells gave me free water for my use in watering my crops and plants. Now my well has dried up for this summer. Water is sold by a  private company, SILANG WATER INC.,  that has  taken over distribution of water resources.   This company has been reaping tremendous profits from urban dwellers demanding a regular supply . A politician is one of the owners.

This same politician(s) control the implementation of zoning laws. Thirthy thousand new homes are cropping up each day in Cavite! Multiply that  by the average water bill of P2,000 a month and anyone can see that urban sprawl also brings oodles of money for those who own the utility company.

 Agricultural lands usually draw water from acquifers and rivers. Now the water is being drained and sold to private consumers.

No wonder why the larger golf courses are green and lush, because the properties have their own subdivisons within, and with a few hundred hectares of land, the underground wells are diverted and draining all the contents of the acquifers that the surrounding agricultural lands need for raising crops! Golfers don't pause and wonder how the rest of their vicinity is doing....they just play their games, and enjoy their time surrounded by "nature."

I wonder if humans realize it is Mother Nature  that is being raped and destroyed when our rightful water resources, forests and rivers are taken over by private businessmen.

Has anyone figured out, that  having no more water to drink, people will suffer tremendous hardships? what will happen next in our beautiful countryside?  Will only the rich  that can afford to pay for their water delivery  drink? 

We better do something very soon....I wonder if we can enjoy the bounties of a once free resource we all knew as WATER for very long.

GOD GAVE US A NATURAL RIGHT TO DRINK AND WATER OUR CROPS WITH FREE RAIN WATER that has filled our acquifers for many millions of years. Why do private companies have this right to determine who drinks water and who doesn't?


 I pass through three golf courses on my way to my farm .....these golf courses, Southwoods, Orchards, and Riviera Golf and Country club have evergreen lawns and water is spurting out as if there is no end to the supply from their underground acquifers. Angry?...sure...we should be angry...for these golf courses should pay 10x more for their water usage and they should have their supply limited too!

I wonder if people would show some hesitance to play golf   during  lent perhaps? After all, this phenomenon is party man made......Therefore if the golfers still go out and play during an "El Nino" crisis, then let these golfers pay  premium green fee tax for the water used on the greens.....wouldn't that be right? If they still play golf, then they are an  insensitive group of people! Who can not  notice a drought going on? Who cannot see the suffering of the poor that don't have enough clean, pure water to give their babies during this crisis?

Some may be feeling they can still afford to pay Manila Water, and Silang Water bills....we are conserving water by using only a few gallons a day for crops, and for drinking water. I have allowed my plants to "die out" and go into hibernation.

I see these golf courses now hiring trucks to water their grounds. If  golfers can sacrifice not playing so those of the community that are starving and thirsty this Holy Week, the golf courses may not have to water their greens as much, and this will allow our country wells to fill up just a bit more to last us till the rains fall in June? 

I doubt it very much there will be a charity drive for drinking water, but I am giving free drinking water to my nieghbors by the bottle!

And for those who do play golf...sure I can understand...that's why golfers play golf...to get away from the problems in life...and to be surrounded by "nature" ....
 

My farm is parched dry. The soil is hard and my  gardens have had crops that have bolted in the intense, dry heat. Pechay have gone to seed too soon. I have had to harvest  fewer  seeds  due the the fact the plant is blooming far ahead of schedule. Fewer seeds means I can't plant much next season.

Water is what would change things. However, my wells are also dry because nearby, all the water being used up by the thousands of gallons per minute to keep the golf course  very green. The water tables are low, and the cost of delivered water is very expensive.

El Nino is here. This unseen villian has been named quite ironically after the Christ child, the giver of salvation!