Main components of an action Plan Frezghi Irénée Martijn

Situation We, as river basin managers, have just arrived in the Philippines We have the task to set up an action plan for the Province of Antique What will we do in our first week to start things up?

Focus area

General information Information about the basin is available in the Antique strategic upland study, the Physical planning study for ANIAD concentration areas and there is some other literature available On the other hand a lot of information is not available in literature, and should therefore be gathered otherwise

1. Description of the state of basin natural resources, trends and how changes will be monitored List natural available resources in the area such as, (ground)water, minerals, biodiversity, agriculture and how these resources are being used Determine trends in the basin, for instance, population growth, deforestation,floodings, sedimentation/erosion, climate Try to get an overview of temporal trends by using historical literature/maps and memories of elderly people Use satellite images and fieldwork to gather actual data

2. Inventories of land use, ecosystems, current water availability and demands, pollution sources Determine land use by literature research, satellite and GIS information, classify land use groups Ecosystems can be assessed by collecting on site field data and some information is available in literature Water availability can be determined by measurements on surface water flows, groundwater levels and annual precipitation characteristics. At the moment we know that the use of water is arranged on barrangay level, regional water usage agreements are not yet made. By listing water users and their water use, the water demand can be calculated Define polluters by measuring water quality down the river

3. Assessment of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem needs, vulnerability to floods, droughts or extreme meteorological events, implication of changing land use We have to see the river basin as one coherent system, where everything interacts To asses aquatic and terrestrial needs, we need information about the resilience of the ecosystems and under what conditions they perform best From there we can also asses if an ecosystem is vulnerable to floods, droughts, etc. We have to keep in mind that changing land use can have far going effects on the adjacent environment From information about settlements, topographic knowledge, geomorphologic conditions and hydrological characteristics we can already asses which parts are most likely to suffer from flooding, drought events and erosion/sedimentation

4. Stakeholder analysis Make a table to get insight in important stakeholders: Arrange appointments and meetings between municipalities and identify all stakeholders that shall be participating For example the local level ‘barrangays’ can play a very important role in the participation of local people in river basin policy StakeholderScalePrivate/ NGO/ Public RoleImportance (1-10) barrangaylocalpublicWater supply 8

5. Analysis of priorities List issues and order them by importance Which issue has the largest negative impact and causes other problems? Which solution can be implemented on short term? Is deforestation a more severe problem than flooding and water pollution? Set up a matrix to make an inventory of the priorities

6. Basin and sub-basin goals, both short- and long- term Implement a policy document Implement water pricing Try to solve most immediate problems by setting short term goals If erosion problem is a major and immediate one then, secondary plantation terrace construction along the hills Try to reach multidisciplinary integrated water management on the long term

7. Water allocation and water quality objectives Divide basin wide water resources in a fair way among all water users, taking the environment into account Set water quality objectives according environmental and social standards Set up a water quality monitoring program

8. Benefit shares Set up a plan that ensures the equity of benefits of all stakeholders Reinvest benefits made (from mining, fishing, rice farming, forestry, taxes) partially into development of the region Use money from water pricing to invest in environment and infrastructure

9. Water related development scenarios, assessment of future water demand, risk assessments Predict scenarios by using the trends found in component 1 Take uncertainties into account and make a worst case scenario, a utopic scenario and one in between

10. Strategy, measures and action plans for the achievement of goals, including sub-basin management plans and implementation guidelines The most important is to get participation going between all stakeholders A structured policy and a central commission is important By good communication and participation a river basin vision and a policy document should be formed From the policy document, legislation and action plans can be made

11. Financing arrangement for water use and management, including details for cost-sharing programs, for projects and other actions Money comes from: water pricing Polluter pays Taxes Funds from the national and local government International institution Specific budget allocations are to be made to river basin services and projects, depending on importance

12. Responsibilities and schedules for implementation The state sets up water policy The province implements the central river basin management plan The basin committee works according to the policy and sets a time schedule for the actions taken The municipalities are responsible for parts of the river basin and coordinate the barrangays The barrangays have the action responsibility

13. Details of the monitoring programme Determine what has to be monitored, why and where Network of measuring stations in the river basin

Assignment 2 the provincial government is planning to sell 60 million cubic meters (60,000,000 m3) of gravel to Singapore city. The plan is to mine that amount in 6 rivers. They want to know what possible implications this can have for the river functioning Gravel digging is done in the actual and former river bed, so close to the main stream of the river Assume that digging is done up to 2.5 meters in dept, and for 100 meters of the width of the river bed this means that 240 km of river bed is needed Or 40 km per river in the lower regions. Banks will erode and valuable farmland will be lost Maybe more salt intrusion This means that all the estuaries are destroyed ecologically, morphologically and socially The only positive things are that with a deeper riverbed, flood waters originated by rain can be discharged faster and a lot of money will be made