WAVES Policy Brieng Philippines Policy October 2015 Brieng

Summary Ecosystem Accounts Inform Policies for Better A pilot ecosystem Resource Management of Laguna de Bay account was developed for the Laguna de Bay Laguna de Bay is the largest inland body of water in the Philippines to provide information providing livelihood, food, transportation and recreation to key on ood mitigation capacity, water, shery provinces and cities within and around the metropolitan area of Manila. resource management; Competing uses, unsustainable land and water uses coupled with to identify priority areas population and industrial expansion have caused the rapid degradation for protection, regulation of the lake and its watershed. The data from the ecosystem accounts of pollution and sediment can help counter the factors that are threatening the Laguna de Bay's loading; and to inform water quality and ecology. strategies on water pricing and sustainable Land Cover Condition Water Quality development planning. Land conversion due to urban Pollution coming from domestic, sprawl and rapid industrial industrial and agricultural/forest Background development are causing a decline wastes contribute to the The development of the in forest cover and impacting degradation o f the water quality. agriculture production. ecosystem accounts is Fish Production based on data collection Flood Mitigation The lake can still sustain sheries and analysis conducted Increase in soil erosion from the production but is threatened by by the Laguna Lake watershed has changed the pollution. Development Authority contours of the lake. (LLDA), the agency responsible for the water and land management of the Laguna Lake Basin. 2003 2010

Technical staff from the different units of the LLDA undertook the analyses supported by international and local experts under the World Bank's Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) Global Partnership Programme.

Figure 1. Areas in red illustrate the unplanned urban sprawl in the western part of the Laguna de Bay region from 2003-2010.

www.wavespartnership.org Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services Increasing the water treatment of Overview household sewage (approximately Land Cover Condition 92% remains unconnected to sewer lines) holds a lot of potential for Major land cover change in the improving the water quality of the Laguna de Bay Basin occurred lake. between 2003-2010. Closed forests decreased by 35% while built up Fish Production areas increased by 116%. While a multi-use resource, the Rapid urbanization and dominant use of the lake is sheries. industrialization are most evident in The lake can still sustain sheries the northwest, west and southern but is threatened by pollution. portions of the lake. The Laguna Lake produces about In addition, unplanned urban sprawl 80,000-90,000 metric tons of sh has led to the conversion of in a year; an estimated 13,000 agricultural lands to residential shermen depend on the lake for uses, with new settlements being their livelihood. constructed in zones that are Invasive species threaten vulnerable to ooding. biodiversity and indigenous species, impacting the economic Flood Mitigation There is rapid operations of sheries. Flood risks in the lake zone have urbanization and substantially increased because of Why Ecosystem Accounts an increasing population in the lake industrialization in shore. Climate change factors such are Important for the the lake region, in as an increase in extreme weather Laguna Lake Region particular in the events and sea level rise will The Laguna de Bay, more commonly adversely aect the ood Greater Metro known as Laguna Lake, is the largest mitigation of the lake. Manila area in the inland water body in the Philippines Sedimentation and p ollution along and the third largest in Southeast Asia. northwest and in with a growing population close It occupies an area of 90,000 the western and to the 12.5-meter water level of the hectares. Around 100 rivers and lake are aecting the water-storage southern portions streams drain into the lake with the capacity of the lake. of the lake. largest contribution of inow coming The information will allow the LLDA from the Pagsanjan River. The Pasig to identify the most important areas for protection and restoration River through the Napindan Channel is of vegetation cover and avoid the only outlet that drains lake waters sedimentation build up that leads to Manila Bay. During some summer to ooding. months, when the lake level is lower Improving waterretention than Manila Bay and when there is capacity of the lake would reduce sucient tidal uctuation, the entry of vulnerability of shoreland saltwater through the Pasig River populations to future ooding. raises the salinity level of the lake, aecting sheries and water quality. Water Quality The Laguna de Bay Basin, together In 2014, around 81% of B iochemical with Southern Palawan, were chosen Oxygen Demand ( BOD) load as the pilot study areas for the comes from domestic w aste. development of ecosystem accounts Other sources of BOD (or organic in the Philippines. These two areas are pollution) load in the lake come considered to be microcosm of the from: 9 % from industrial waste; entire country in terms of richness in 5 % f rom agriculture waste, 3% from diversity and presence of various solid w aste and 2% from forest alarming environmental issues. waste.

Ecosystem Accounts Inform Policies for Better Resource Management of Laguna de Bay 2 Two management layers of Laguna (i) land account containing land de Bay are considered in the cover and changes; development of the accounts. First is (ii) ecosystem condition account the Laguna de Bay Basin which is the indicating various water quality physical watershed, dened by the indicators, soil types and boundaries where water ows into the elevation, changes in lake Laguna de Bay. The Basin which has bathymetry and sediment an area of 2920 km2 is divided into 24 loading; sub-basins. (iii) ecosystem services production account indicating the ow of The other is the Laguna de Bay Region ecosystem services such as which is the administrative jurisdiction shery production, water supply, of the Laguna Lake Development ood mitigation and soil erosion Authority (LLDA). The Laguna de Bay regulation; Region includes the whole provinces (iv) ecosystem asset account such as of Rizal and Laguna, the towns of water and sh stock. Carmona, Silang and General Mariano Alvarez (GMA) and Tagaytay City in Land Account: Declining Cavite, towns of Tanauan, Sto. Tomas Vegetation Cover and Population and Malvar in Batangas, Lucban in Quezon, and town of Pateros and the Expanding Built-Up Areas expansion, cities of Muntinlupa, Taguig, Pasig, The land account clearly illustrates the urbanization, Marikina, Quezon, Caloocan, Pasay, major land cover change in the basin industrialization, and Manila in Metro Manila. during the period 2003-2010. Closed deforestation and Laguna de Bay is a multiple use forest decreased by 35% while built- resource. Aside from sheries which is up areas increased by 116%. Remaining land conversion the dominant use, the lake supplies forests are found, in particular, in the have led to massive domestic water through the Maynilad Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve and Sierra changes in the Water Services, Inc (MWSI). It also Madre mountain ranges, but even in supplies irrigation water for these areas illegal settlements have Laguna de Bay approximately 103,000 hectares of been established. basin and the lake agricultural areas and hydropower to There is rapid urbanization and itself, threatening generate 700 megawatts of electricity. industrialization in the lake region, in its water quality The lake is also used for non-contact particular, in the northwest and in the recreation, industrial cooling, reservoir western and southern portions of the and ecology. for oodwaters and waste sink. lake. The spread and location of Over the past decades, conict of residential subdivisions are interest, competing uses and characterized by unplanned urban unsustainable land and water uses sprawl. This involves, among others, caused the rapid deterioration and the conversion of agricultural lands to degradation of the lake and its residential uses, and the construction watershed. of new settlements close to the lake shore, in the zone that is vulnerable to Taking into consideration the policy ooding. (Figure 1) drivers and the availability of data, the following ecosystem accounts were developed for the Laguna de Bay Basin:

Ecosystem Accounts Inform Policies for Better Resource Management of Laguna de Bay 3 Laguna de Bay Sub-basins 2003 2010 2014 2010 Marikina C BD BD Bagumbayan, Taguig BD BD Buli, Muntinlupa BD BD Mangangate, Mauntinlupa BD BD BD Tunasan, Muntinlupa BD BD BD San Pedro BD BD BD Binan BD Sta. Rosa BD

Marikina River Cabuyao C D BD

Cainta River San Cristobal, Calamba D BD BD Taytay Floodway San Juan, Calamba C A/B C Los Banos A/B

Bagumbayan River Bay A/B A/B C Buli Creek Pila A/B Mangangate River Mangangate River Upstream Sta. Cruz A/B A/B A/B

Tunasan River Upstream San Pedro River Pagsanjan AA A/B A/B Tunasan River Downstream Biñan River Pangil A/B A/B A/B Sta. Rosa River Sta. Rosa River Downstream Sta. Maria A/B Cabuyao River Siniloan C C A/B Sta. Rosa River Upstream Jalajala A/B San Cristobal River San Juan River Pililla C Tanay C A/B A/B Baras C Morong C D D Legend Sapang Baho, Cainta BD BD BD Tributary River Stations Manggahan Floodway, Taytay D BD Idb_stations Laguna de Bay Basin Water Quality Classication in the 24 Sub-basins Inland Water Built-up of Laguna de Bay. A - Drinking Water D - Irrigation B - Recreation BD - Worse than D Built-up Areas in 2010 C - Fisheries Figure 2. Chart shows deteriorating water quality particularly in areas with expanding built up areas. Aquatic Ecosystem years show more water loss than replenishment. Accounts: Declining Change in bathymetry (measure of Water-Retention Capacity water body depth) between 1997 and The ood mitigation service of the lake 2014 was analyzed to assess how the refers to the capacity of the lake to lake volume has changed over time store water that would otherwise have and to establish if and how led to ooding of houses and sedimentation has aected the water infrastructure. The ood mitigation storage volume of the lake. The main Analysis shows that patterns of change is that the deeper service is aected by the inow of the ood risks in sediments in the lake. Portions of the parts of the lakes became deeper over shore that drain back into the lake time, in particular in the western and the lake zone have caused by rain also add to the central part of the lake. However, the substantially sediment build-up of the lake. periphery of the lake became shallower, in particular in areas close to increased because The water account records the where rivers drain into the lake. of an increasing physical stocks and ow of water in Noticeable is the decrease in 10.5m the Laguna de Bay. Inow sources of lake surface area, which can be population in the water include microwatershed attributed to sedimentation (and land lake shore. discharges, direct lake rainfall and reclamation, often following groundwater interaction. sedimentation on areas where there Microwatershed discharges are has been a particular build up in described as the total surface run o sediments). from dierent river systems. Outow of water from the lake is attributed to Overall, the capacity of the lake to evaporation, river exchange (to and contain water, and to drain water to from Pasig River) and water usage for the Pasig channel has not markedly human activities. changed in this period, but the lake volume between 10.5 and 12.5m water Based on the simulation modelling level has decreased, due to backlling conducted from 2000 to 2012, the of the lake with sediments deposited stock of lake water increased only in nearby river outlets in the lake. 2005, 2007, and 2010. The rest of the

Ecosystem Accounts Inform Policies for Better Resource Management of Laguna de Bay 4 Aquatic Ecosystem Condition: Deteriorating Water Quality The LLDA conducts regular monitoring of the lake and its tributary rivers. The monitoring data indicates that the rivers on the western portion of the lake where built up area has signicantly increased for the period between 2003 and 2010 has deteriorated. These rivers have lower water quality, in terms of Biochemical Legend Oxygen Demand (BOD) (t/km2/yr) concentrations, than the Class D 7 - 344 344 - 889 classication as provided in the DENR 889 - 1447 1447 - 2585 Administrative Order No. 34. 2585 - 4312 TOTAL: 501 kt/yr (Figure 2) Pollution coming from domestic, Figure 4. Detailed information on areas generating industrial and agricultural/forest sediment loads in the Marikina sub-basin. wastes which are continuously drained to Laguna Lake contributes to the Ecosystem Services degradation of its water quality. The pollution loading in the Laguna de Bay Account: Increasing Region, specically for BOD, for the Sedimentation of the Lake dierent sources was estimated for The ecosystem service 'erosion the period 2003 to 2014. The results control' was dened as the amount of show that in 2014, 81% of the BOD load sedimentation avoided because of the comes from domestic wastes, 9% from vegetation cover. It was calculated by industry, 5% from agriculture, 2% from comparing the erosion and forest and 3% from solid wastes. This sedimentation rates that would have indicates that treating household taken place without vegetation cover wastes has a lot of potential for improving the water quality of Lake with the actual erosion and Laguna. (Figure 3) sedimentation rates. Results of sedimentation analysis show that around 2,000 kilotons (kt) of total suspended sediment was discharged 2014 BOD loadings within the Laguna de to the lake in 2010. Bay Region Despite the current state of the 2% 3% ecosystem, the semi-natural and 5% natural ecosystems are still capable of Domesc 9% preventing around 7,000 kt of Industrial sediment per year from being Agricultural deposited into the Laguna Lake Basin. Forest 81% With this information, analyses can be Solid Waste made on possible ways to improve these ecosystems and prevent further Figure 3. The highest volume of pollution owing into the lake comes from domestic waste. siltation in the lake basin. Furthermore, the modeling enabled identifying zones that are particularly important

Ecosystem Accounts Inform Policies for Better Resource Management of Laguna de Bay 5 as a source for sediments. This What Ecosystem Accounts information allows the LLDA to identify the most important areas for for the Laguna Lake protection and restoration of Region Mean for Policy vegetation cover in order to avoid Land conversion, is at present, not sedimentation and a subsequent aligned with development plans or decline in the ood mitigation service planning laws. Better enforcement of the lake. (Figure 4) of such regulations is crucial. Deteriorating Water Information on land accounts can provide planners and users with Quality Potentially information on the availability and Aecting Fisheries usability of land sources to facilitate Production orderly development and judicious land use. Laguna de Bay is a multiple use There is a need to further resource but the dominant use is for strengthen water resources sheries, that includes capture management and development sheries and aquaculture through through an integrated and holistic shpen and shcages. In 1999, the approach to water use and LLDA implemented a Zoning and allocation. The following are Management Plan (ZOMAP) to ensure needed: the equitable distribution of the lake's shery resources. The ZOMAP allotted 1.) Maintain an optimum volume of 10,000 hectares for shpens, 5,000 lake water and craft a policy for hectares for shcages, areas for water allocation for dierent sanctuary and navigational lanes and types of water use for dierent the rest for open water shing. An types of water users; estimated 13,000 shermen depend 2.) Prioritize preferential use of on the lake for their livelihood. The water Laguna Lake produces about 80,000- Increasing the rate of t reatment of 90,000 metric tons of sh in a year. household sewage has a lot of There are important dierences potential to improve the water between the dierent parts of the lake, quality of the Laguna Lake. with the western part as the most Eorts should be made to improve protable for both capture sheries the soil erosion control services and and the two types of aquaculture. This further prevent further degradation is due to the regular intrusion of salt of land cover to alleviate the water, creating a brackish water siltation in the lake basin. The environment that is suitable for accounts have identied priority milksh. areas for rehabilitation as the The lake can still sustain sheries but is western part of the lake. threatened by contamination from Improve water-retention capacity pollution. Likewise, invasive species of the lake to reduce vulnerability threatens not only the biodiversity but of shoreland populations to future also poses an alarming impact on extreme weather events. A key indigenous species and on the issue is that more new homes are economic operation of sheries in the being built close to the 12.5-meter lake. water level. These homes are extremely vulnerable, especially during high rainfall events and in particular during typhoons.

Ecosystem Accounts Inform Policies for Better Resource Management of Laguna de Bay 6 References LLDA (Lake Laguna Development Wilkinson, S.H., Henderson, A., Chen, Authority). 1996. Laguna de Bay Y. and Sherman, B. (2004). Spatial Development Master Plan. SedNet User Guide. Client Report, Manila: LLDA. CSIRO Land and Water; Phil-WAVES TWG LLDA. 2015. Canberra. Ecosystem Account for Laguna World Bank, 2011. Press Release: Lake: Interim Report. Manila: Philippines: Over 13 Million People World Bank. to Benet from World Bank United Nations. 2014a. System of Support to Cleanup Laguna de Environmental-Economic Bay through Local Government Accounting 2012: Experimental Units. [Online] Available at: http:// Ecosystem Accounting. New www.worldbank.org/en/news York: United Nations. [Accessed 3, 2015]. United Nations. 2014b. System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012: Central Framework. New York: United Nations.

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