DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said the automation scheme will improve the response mechanism of DENR in relation to climate variability vis-à-vis disaster risk reduction management and to facilitate reservoir data transmission in relation to water allocation and supply management.
“It will also provide real time information on dam operation to the public in relation to disaster preparedness; and have an efficient data storage management and to facilitate timely dissemination of accurate water resources information to the public, policy makers and other stakeholders,” Paje said.
The National Water Resources Board (NWRB), an attached agency of the DENR, proposed the automation scheme in order to reformulate the reservoir operation rules of major dams due to recent developments that include, among others, climate variability as floods and drought, increase of water demand from the reservoirs and status of reservoirs’ watersheds.
Moreover, an effective data gathering, processing and transmission system as well as the development of mathematical models and decision support tools could be attained through the automation scheme.
NWRB Executive Director Vicente S. Paragas stressed that an upgraded NWIN will sustain its operation such as the installation of a computer-based water resources management information system and the state-of-the-art reservoir management technology (telemetry) and uploading reservoir data to the NWIN website; the linkages of data generating agencies to NWIN; and the establishment of Reservoir Operation Center at the DENR-Office of the Secretary.
The design and establishment of NWIN was one of the activities under the Improvement of Water Resources Planning and Management Component Study of the World Bank-funded Water Resources Development Project in 1997. It was designed as a computer-based system to link the database of collection agencies and provide easy access to user agencies.
