FOUR LGUs
TO WORK TOGETHER TO SAVE WATERSHED
Martin Antonio | September 19, 2011
A
Capacity Building Workshop was held on
September 7 to 9 for Santa Rosa
sub-watershed stakeholders. The three-day
workshop conducted at DAP Conference Center
in Tagaytay City was well-attended by
environment and natural resources officers (ENROs)
and other officials from concerned local
government units (LGUs) such as the cities
of Santa Rosa and Biñan and the towns of
Cabuyao in Laguna and of Silang, Cavite.
The
Assistant General Manager, top officials and
technical officers from the Laguna Lake
Development Authority (LLDA) graced the
event to initiate discussions on the
Integrated Watershed Management Program for
the Santa Rosa sub-watershed and to look on
the feasibility of sustainable development
in the area through inter-governmental
efforts. Consequently, a short course on the
state and readiness of local institutions
was also held to assess their capacity to
implement harmoniously the management and
development plans for the aforementioned
watershed.
On
the second day, the workshop focused on the
technical aspect as spearheaded by experts
from the U.P. School of Urban and Regional
Planning (UP-SURP). The group discussed
characteristics of the groundwater,
pollution and flooding at the Santa Rosa
Sub-watershed as well as the process of
urban planning, the valuation of the impacts
of disaster and the mitigation and
adaptation capability of governments and
their communities.
Subsequently, a Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) is now being finalized by the four
LGUs for the Institutional Arrangement for
the Santa Rosa Sub-watershed to facilitate
the move towards an integrated local
initiative on protecting not only the Santa
Rosa Sub-watershed but eventually the Laguna
Lake. As Assistant General Manager Dolora N.
Nepomuceno puts it, “let’s lead an example
amongst our comrades in local governance
that sustainable development is best
achieved through our integrated efforts. Let
this cooperation serve as the pilot program
for future partnerships in the Region.”
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