Because of the pressing need to ensure the sustainability of water as a solution to the impending environmental crisis, concerned residents of Angeles City are initiating moves to save the natural watershed.
A short program and exhibits designed to disseminate information and to create awareness to the community specially the youth will be set up on the Angeles City Library and Information Center on Nov. 18.
Sapang Bato, a wide span of mountainous terrain at the upstream area in Angeles between Clark Freeport Zone and the Municipality of Porac, is a natural watershed that has the potential to produce the water needed by the greater Metro Clark environs in the next 50 years.
Since Angeles City is becoming a hub of investments, matched with the expanding operations of Clark Freeport Zone, more and more people are attracted to migrate in this area. The presence of golf courses in the Clark Freeport Zone is also expected to affect the watershed in the area.
The city has come to be an educational center and a land of opportunity for employment, livelihood and investments. In the latest study of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the BPI Foundation, Inc., it was said that Angeles City’s population increased by 38 percent in the past 20 years.
The city’s population density is also very high, growing from 3,807 per square km. to 5,249 per square km. The local business grew by 42% from 2005 to 2012 while the housing industry escalated from 54,059 in 2000 to 72,791 in 2010.
This means increase in number of commercial and industrial activities. It also means more and more number of people are using energy and water.
In 2010, a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) showed nine major cities in the Philippines listed as “water-critical areas.” They are Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Baguio, Angeles, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and Zamboanga. The study mentions an impending catastrophe in 10 to 15 years.