Water Resources Management Division

The Water Resources Management Division shall provide leadership in the conservation and judicious use of water as vital agricultural resources in the upland farming communities. With the threat of extreme climate events due to climate change, the division shall strengthen its functions on rain water harvesting and run off management to address land degradation and reduce the impacts of droughts in vulnerable areas. As such, it shall upgrade its capabilities to provide real-time and location specific agro-meteorological information to facilitate the formulation of location- specific cropping pattern and calendar; and provide inputs in the design of more cost-effective and appropriate soil and water conservation structures, and tools for the development of early warning systems. It shall engage in cloud seeding operations in key production areas and critical watersheds to minimize the impact of El Nino and prolong droughts in agricultural areas, particularly in the uplands.

The functions of the Division involves the preparation of designs, development, and management of Small Water Impounding Projects (SWIP), an earthfill structure on narrow valleys with height of 5-15 meters and service area ranging from 25 to 150 hectares; and of Small Farm Reservoir (SFR) which is smaller version of SWIP to collect rainfall and runoff for use by a single farm, with height of less than 4 meters and reservoir area of 300 – 1,500 square meters serving about half to a hectare of farmlands. The Division is also involved with development of Small Diversion Dams (DD) which is a concrete or rock fill structure to divert a portion of stream flow, with heights ranging from half to two meters and servicing a farm area of about 40 hectares. Shallow Tube Wells (STW’s) is another major output of this Division, a tube or pipe vertically set into the ground to a depth as much as 20 meters to lift water from shallow aquifer to service an area of about 3-5 hectares.

It is also our proposal to absorb the National Rain Stimulation Office or NARSO (formerly the Rain Stimulation Coordinating and Monitoring Unit) and its functions and responsibilities be merged to the Agro-hydrology and Rain Stimulation Section. On January 30, 1987, the Department of Agriculture was re-organized through Executive Order 116 and BSWM was mandated to engage in rainmaking projects to offset the effects of drought in agricultural and watershed areas. Department Order 2 was issued establishing the functions of NARSO relative to the implementation of the Expanded Rain Stimulation Program. Presently, NARSO provides technical assistance to DA-RFU’s and other requesting agencies in the implementation of cloud seeding operations. The airplanes are with PAF on a Memorandum of Agreement, one of the two is already on running condition at PAF’s expenses, and can be made available for cloud seeding at anytime.

Mandate

To harness and conserve rainfall and run-off water and ground water recharge for farm use as component of sustainable land management program and thereby contribute to the attainment of food security for the country

Mission

To provide the necessary rainfall and runoff water resources management strategies for the stewardship of precious water commodity by the farming community

Vision

A progressive farming community concerned with practicing water conservation through the development of innovative and participatory framework for the collection and utilization of rainfall and runoff water

Functions

Develop programs and guidelines for the promotion of cost-efficient small-scale infrastructure for community-based rainwater retention and technologies for water resources management in marginal uplands and degraded lowlands for optimum and sustained agricultural land and micro-watersheds productivity
In coordination with appropriate academic and research institutions, develop programs, standards and guidelines for the assessment of agricultural water degradation resulting from inappropriate land use and agricultural practices