Sinking feeling: Philippine cities facing 'slow-motion disaster'

Yahoo – AFP, Joshua MELVIN, May 20, 2019

Twenty years ago the residents of Sitio Pariahan could walk to the local chapel but

 today reaching it requires a swim, because the town, like many in the Philippines, 

is sinking (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

When Mary Ann San Jose moved to Sitio Pariahan more than two decades ago, she could walk to the local chapel. Today, reaching it requires a swim.

The main culprit is catastrophic subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from below, often via unregulated wells for homes, factories, and farms catering to a booming population and growing economy.

The steady sinking of coastal towns and islets like Pariahan in the northern Philippines has caused Manila Bay's brackish water to pour inland and displace thousands, posing a greater threat than rising sea levels due to climate change.

"It was so beautiful here before... Children were playing in the streets," San Jose said, adding: "Now we always need to use a boat."

Areas north of Manila like the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan have sunk 

four-six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) a year since 2003, according to satellite 

monitoring (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

Most of the former residents have scattered to other parts of the region. Just a handful of families remain in Pariahan, which had its own elementary school, a basketball court and a chapel before the water flowed in.

These days just the flooded chapel, a cluster of shacks on bamboo stilts where San Jose lives with her family, and a few homes on a bump of land remain.

The children that live there commute 20 minutes by boat to a school inland and most of the residents eke out a living by fishing.

The provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan -- where Pariahan is located -- have sunk between four and six centimetres (1.5-2.4 inches) annually since 2003, according to satellite monitoring.

"It's really a disaster that is already happening... It's a slow-onset disaster," explained Narod Eco, who is part of a group of scientists tracking the problem.

Catastrophic subsidence caused by groundwater being pumped out from below 

is causing some Philippine cities to sink in coastal areas, allowing sea water to 

rush in (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

Threat to lives

By comparison, the UN estimates average sea level rise globally is about three millimetres per year.

The creeping bay waters put people and property at risk, while the threat is amplified by high-tides and flooding brought by the roughly 20 storms that pound the archipelago every year.

Some areas have raised roads in an effort to keep up with the sinking, creating odd scenes where the street surface is at the height of door knobs on roadside buildings.

At least 5,000 people have been forced out of the mostly rural coastal areas north of Manila in recent decades as the bay water has moved further inland, regional disaster officials told AFP.

The sinking is very likely permanent because the ground in the hardest hit areas is mostly clay, which sticks together after the water is pulled out.

At least 5,000 people have been forced out of the mostly rural coastal areas 

north of Manila in recent decades as the bay water has moved further inland, 

regional disaster officials told AFP (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

The fate of towns such as Pariahan provides a preview of the problems that may await some of the capital's 13 million people.

Sections of Manila along the shore of the bay are sinking too, with excess groundwater pumping being the most likely cause, Eco, the researcher, told AFP. The subsidence there though is at a slower rate than the northern coastal communities, potentially due to less pumping or differences in the soil, he added.

A moratorium on new wells in the greater Manila area has been in place since 2004. But enforcing that ban as well as shuttering existing illegal wells, falls to the National Water Resource Board and its roughly 100 staffers who are responsible for policing the whole country.

"We have insufficient manpower resources," the board's director Sevillo David told AFP. "It's a very big challenge for us, but I think we are doing the best we can."

A moratorium on new wells in the greater Manila area has been in place since 2004 

but enforcing that ban falls to the National Water Resource Board and its roughly 

100 staffers who are responsible for policing the whole country (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

Things will get worse

The demand for water has soared as Manila's population has nearly doubled since 1985, and the size of the nation's economy has expanded roughly ten-fold over the same period.

This explosive growth has created a ravenous demand for water, especially in the agriculture and manufacturing industries to the north of the capital.

"The sinking is a very serious threat to people, their livelihoods and cultures," said Joseph Estadilla, a spokesman for alliance seeking to protect Manila Bay coastal communities.

"This is only going to get worse in the near future," he insisted.

Manila and its surroundings are among several major cities, especially in Asia, under threat as the land collapses beneath them, though the causes for this vary.

The demand for water has soared as Manila's population has nearly doubled since 

1985, and the size of the nation's economy has expanded roughly ten-fold over

the same period (AFP Photo/Noel CELIS)

Cities such as Jakarta -- which is sinking 25 centimetres (0.8 feet) each year -- Bangkok and Shanghai risk being inundated within decades as a mixture of poor planning, more violent storms and higher tides wreak havoc.

In Jakarta, a city of 10 million people that sits on a confluence of 13 rivers, half the population lacks access to piped water, so many dig illegal wells to extract groundwater.

Yet in Pariahan the residents who remain are doing what they can to stay in a place they call home.

San Jose explained: "Every year we raise (the floor) of our house. Now my head almost reaches the ceiling."

US authorities to re-route controversial North Dakota pipeline

Yahoo – AFP, Jim Watson, December 5, 2016

US military veterans joined protests against a controversial planned oil pipeline that
have led the Army Corps of Engineers to rethink the route (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

Cannon Ball (United States) (AFP) - The US Army Corps of Engineers nixed plans for a controversial oil pipeline crossing in North Dakota, a major victory for Native Americans and environmentalists who had staged months of protests.

The pipeline had been set to cross under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe, which are drinking water sources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

"It's clear that there's more work to do," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US Army's assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement.

"The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."

The Standing Rock Sioux objected to building the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) pipeline underneath the river and lake because of fears of possible leaks. The tribe also said the route would cross through areas with sacred historic artifacts.

The conflict between the tribe and pipeline operators Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners galvanized North American native tribes and supporters, who have camped in the thousands near the construction site for months in an effort to block it.

'Do the right thing'

Some 2,000 US military veterans joined the protest this week in a symbolically important move before a deadline for demonstrators to vacate the area on Monday.

"We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing," Standing Rock Sioux chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement.

"We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our indigenous peoples."

Map charting the route of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline

(AFP Photo/AFP)

Pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, a group representing the pipeline operators, the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, condemned the decision, blaming it on President Barack Obama.

"This purely political decision flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law," it said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left."

Violent standoff

The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake through four US states, delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can be shipped to other parts of the country.

It could help reduce the cost of transporting North Dakota oil, enabling it to better compete with cheaper oil from Canada.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit saying it was railroaded by the pipeline's developer and the US Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for approving construction under the river, but a federal judge denied its request to halt construction in September.

However, the government suspended the pipeline construction project last month, saying more analysis and debate were needed.

Energy Transfer Partners and its co-operator Sunoco Logistics Partners struck back, asking a court to stop regulators from further delaying the project.

The standoff turned violent at times, including last month, when hundreds of protesters clashed with police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon, soaking the crowd in subfreezing temperatures.

Protest organizers said 167 people were hurt, including three Native American tribal elders, and that seven people were hospitalized for severe head injuries.

Activists celebrate at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock

 Sioux Reservation outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota, after hearing that the Army

 Corps of Engineers has denied the current route for the Dakota Access pipeline

(AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

Nationwide protests

The standoff has prompted sympathetic protests nationwide, with celebrities, politicians and environmental activists joining the cause.

News of the Army's decision prompted celebration and relief among those who opposed the pipeline route.

"Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard," Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, tweeted. "The Standing Rock Sioux & indigenous communities remind us of power of individuals to stand up to demand environmental justice."

Among the project's supporters, North Dakota's Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple, who had ordered the protesters to evacuate on Monday, called the decision a "serious mistake."

He was joined by the state's sole member in the House of Representatives, Kevin Cramer, who said in a statement, "I’m encouraged we will restore law and order next month when we get a president who will not thumb his nose at the rule of law."

But Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders praised Sunday's decision, saying, "I appreciate very much President Obama listening to the Native American people and millions of others who believe this pipeline should not be built."

Native Americans ride with raised fists to a sacred burial ground that was

disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

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Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe confront bulldozers working on the

Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North

Dakota on September 03, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Canada approves tripling capacity of Trans Mountain pipeline to Pacific pic.twitter.com/MF6eOdTBV1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 30, 2016

ING, ABN Amro urged to pull out of controversial US pipeline project

DutchNews, November 28, 2016

Amsterdam’s Zuidas business
district. Photo: DutchNews.nl

Dutch banks ING and ABN Amro are being urged to end their investment in a controversial oil pipeline project in the US. 

The construction has prompted violent clashes between the army and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who say construction of the pipeline through northern Dakota could affect its drinking water supply and put communities ‘at risk of contamination by crude oil leaks and spills.’ 

They also say the pipeline will threaten the environment and destroy Native American burial sites, prayer sites and culturally significant artifacts, CNN reported. 

According to fair banking campaign group Eerlijke Bankwijzer, ING has pumped the equivalent of €233m into the project in direct loans. ABN Amro has lent $45m to companies which are involved with the project. 

ING said in a statement it is concerned about what is going on and is investigating further. However, withdrawing from the project is not an option legally, news agency ANP quotes the bank as saying. 

ABN Amro points out it is not one of the 17 banks actively funding the pipeline and says it is in ‘continuous contact’ with the companies it has backed. This includes ‘explicitly’ ensuring that its concerns about the project are known, ANP said. 

Native Americans ride with raised fists to a sacred burial ground that was

disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL),

September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Related Article:

Violence erupts as Native Americans resist oil pipeline

US seeks halt to work on pipeline opposed by Native Americans

US judge won't halt pipeline opposed by Native Americans

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe confront bulldozers working on the

Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North

Dakota on September 03, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Canada approves tripling capacity of Trans Mountain pipeline to Pacific pic.twitter.com/MF6eOdTBV1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 30, 2016

'Great wall of Jakarta' plan to combat floods

Yahoo – AFP, Sam Reeves, 15 Oct 2014

Children residing in the slum area play along a dyke as construction of the

Jakarta sea wall begins, October 9, 2014 (AFP/Photo By Romeo Gaca)

Jakarta has launched a multi-billion-dollar scheme to build a huge sea wall to combat flooding as the Indonesian capital sinks, but there is scepticism about its chances of success in a country with a history of corruption and failed megaprojects.

The 35-kilometre (22-mile) wall, across the Bay of Jakarta off the city's northern coast, is the centrepiece of a project that will cost up to $40 billion over three decades, and also includes reclaiming land for 17 new islands.

The whole project will form the shape of a Garuda, the mythical bird that is Indonesia's national symbol.

Children residing in the slum area play 

along a dyke as construction of the 

Jakarta sea wall begins, October 9, 

2014 (AFP/Photo By Romeo Gaca)

While the aim is to prevent floods, it is hoped up to one million people will live and work on the islands, and help take pressure off a crowded city notorious as one of the world's most uninviting urban sprawls.

Supporters of the project, which officially got under way last week and is run by the Indonesian government with help from Dutch experts, say it is the only long-term solution.

"It's a life-and-death situation," said Purba Robert M. Sianipar, a senior economics ministry official with a key role in the project, adding hundreds were at risk of losing their lives from severe flooding if action was not taken.

However, some wonder whether such an ambitious plan will ever be completed, given Indonesia's bad record on infrastructure projects, such as plan to build a monorail in Jakarta that was embroiled in a storm of corruption six years ago.

Chief Economics Minister Chairul Tanjung suggested as much at last week's launch event, saying disagreements with future governments could knock the project off schedule.

Others question the approach entirely, saying the project will not stop the city from sinking, while graft is also a major danger, with officials sometimes awarding tenders to unsuitable firms in exchange for large kickbacks.

Jakarta has long been hit by floods during the rainy season, when tropical downpours cause rivers to burst their banks and deluge inadequate drainage systems, forcing tens of thousands out of their homes.

Residents gather along a dyke in Jakarta

as construction of the Indonesian capital's

 sea wall begins, October 9, 2014 (AFP/

Photo By Romeo Gaca)

However in 2007, a new type of flood set alarm bells ringing.

Rivers could stop flowing

Slum neighbourhoods were inundated when a high tide surged over sea defences in northern Jakarta, something that had never happened before and which highlighted the severe land subsidence in many areas.

As Jakarta has rapidly grown to a population of about 10 million, increased water extraction for drinking has caused the ground to compact and parts of the city to sink, a problem seen in other coastal conurbations, such as Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok.

Parts of coastal north Jakarta, which is built on soft clay, are sinking as fast as 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) a year, meaning they could be metres below sea level in a few decades, according to those behind the sea wall project.

"Basically we are pumping ourselves into the ground," said Victor Coenen, from Dutch consultants Witteveen and Bos, which devised the master plan for the project.

The subsidence also means the 13 rivers in Jakarta may sink below sea level and stop flowing, increasing the risk of inundations.

After the 2007 floods -- which forced hundreds of thousands out of their homes -- officials scrambled to come up with a plan.

It involves strengthening the current, low sea defences over the next few years to provide temporary protection for north Jakarta, home to more than four million people.

A wall of giant iron reinforcement pipes is installed during the construction

of the Jakarta sea wall, October 9, 2014 (AFP/Photo By Romeo Gaca)

Work will then begin on the main wall, which will sit six to eight kilometres (four to five miles) from the coast and will be seven metres (23 feet) above sea level.

Construction of the wall will be finished between 2025 and 2030, while development on the islands -- which will have a mix of high-end and low-cost housing -- could take another decade.

A huge reservoir will be created between the islands and sea wall, where water from downpours can be stored so it does not flood the city, and into which rivers will be able to flow freely.

Plans are also in progress to slow the land subsidence by providing piped water to Jakarta from other areas and stop extraction of ground water.

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Draft of the Master Plan for National Capital Integrated Coastal Development. 
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Dutch hothouses could help solve world food crisis

RNW, 2 May 2011, by Johan Huizinga

(Photo: RNW)

Dutch hothouses used to have a reputation for wasting energy. But nowadays it’s the most innovative sector in the Netherlands, producing food extremely efficiently using sustainable energy. Even the Chinese are interested.

China, like the Netherlands, does not have enough agricultural land to feed its own population. Dutch intensive greenhouse systems could help increase food production in China.

Professor of greenhouse farming at the Agricultural University of Wageningen Olaf van Kooten explains:

“Cultivation under glass is extremely efficient in its use of water and energy. In the future, we will have to feed around 15 billion people across the world, and this could be a key to the solution.”

Water

Excess warm water is stored
underground (Photo: RNW)

Stef Huisman grows tropical plants and trees for offices. He uses a closed water system. His nursery has trees standing in two to three centimetres of water. Every week, the water is filtered for sand and ultra violet rays and reused.

“That is all the water we need. The rain that falls on the roof is enough to water the plants. We don’t use any ground water.”

Professor Van Kooten thinks this technique could be an important export product.

“If we continue like this, the only water we use will literally be the water in the product. To produce a kilo of tomatoes, you will only need a litre of water.”

Ground heat

Water is pumped from a depth of
three kilometers (Photo: RNW)

The use of the ground heat to heat the greenhouses is just as important. Ted Duijvestijn has drilled a 3-kilometre-deep shaft to heat his tomato greenhouses in Pijnacker. The system pumps salt water which is 75 degrees Celsius upwards to the greenhouses. Once the water cools it is pumped back into the ground, where it reheats again.

The system, which was installed in March, is already making 60 percent savings. Once the electric pumps are powered by his own windmills, the greenhouses will more or less only run on sustainable energy. There will even be excess energy and warm water produced so that greenhouse owners will also become energy suppliers.

LED lighting

Rob Baan uses four colours in
LED-lighting (Photo: RNW)

And then there are the lights which are used to help plants grow. Vegetable grower Rob Baan has replaced his with low-energy LED lights which give exactly the right colour. Next to the greenhouse is a windmill to provide the energy for the LED lights.

In the summer the greenhouses are heated by the sun, producing temperatures above 50 degrees. Excess warmth is used to heat water, which is stored underground for the winter.

No pesticides

Wouldn’t it be easier to cultivate food in regions where no greenhouses are needed. Mr Baan very firmly says “No.”

“There are no insects here. Our greenhouses are either free of insects or we have predators in the greenhouses which eat them. We do not spay pesticides on the plants. Our production methods are becoming more and more sustainable. In the future, these kind of farms will be built close to cities, so that food can be produced locally.”

Meanwhile he has started up his own businesses in the United States and Japan.

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In the Country’s Water Wars, Nuclear Technology Is an Ally

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia | April 24, 2011

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The ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has understandably made most people averse to the idea of anything nuclear.

So it might be surprising to learn that nuclear technology is already being used in Indonesia. Even more surprising, it is being used to maximize the use of water resources.

Wibagyo, from the Center for Isotope and Radiation Technology at the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan), said stable and safe nuclear isotopes were being used to determine the volume of available freshwater and groundwater in the country.

The isotopes, he said, are disseminated in the upstream areas of rivers, where there are ample ripples to ensure the perfect mix of isotopes and water.

After the isotopes are dispersed, the water downstream is tested to determine the river’s volume, said Wibagyo, who is the head of the Hydrology and Geothermal Nuclear group at the isotope center, which is also known as Pitir Batan.

“The isotopes are also used to map the flow of underground rivers in caves in areas where the surface is predominantly limestone, such as in Gunung Kidul,” he said, referring to a dry area in Wonosari district in the southern part of Yogyakarta.

This underground mapping is useful in preventing water from being pumped from the streams up on the surface, he added.

In a visit to Indonesia earlier this month, Kwako Aning, the deputy director general for technical cooperation at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the global nuclear regulator was concentrating on raising awareness of how atomic technology could be useful for water, a resource that is becoming scarcer in many parts of the world.

Aning said that apart from being useful in determining the availability of underground water reserves, stable isotopes could also determine how much reserves had been used.

These isotopes, he added, can also determine the nutrients contained in the water, so that when the water is used for irrigation, the farmers “will not overfertilize their farms.”

A joint study conducted by Batan and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in the 1990s showed that the common perception that groundwater in Jakarta originated in the Puncak area was incorrect.

“We found out that the water in Jakarta actually comes from the Depok and Cibinong areas,” Wibagyo said.

Nuclear technology opponents have advocated the use of other energy resources such as geothermal instead of the establishment of nuclear power plants. But Wibagyo said that nuclear technology would still have a role to play.

“We’ve used nuclear technology to monitor available water reserves surrounding geothermal vents to determine if there would be a generous supply of water before exploiting the geothermal vents,” Wibagyo said. He added that large water reserves were essential to a geothermal plant’s steam-generating process.

“Geothermal vents would not be exploitable without enough water supplies surrounding them,” he said.

Although nuclear technology is used in almost all aspects of life, the IAEA’s Aning said it had still not gained acceptance with many people because of what he called a “misunderstanding.”

He said the idea of nuclear power being only a destructive force had carried over from the devastating atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

“So it is imprinted in our genes that this technology is wrong,” he said, adding that the key to making the best of nuclear technology was to use it securely and safely.

“There should be no problem with it if it is used properly,” he said. “Without safety, this technology is useless, so the key is to use it safely.”

Aning lauded Indonesia for being a pioneer in nuclear technology. The country has used the technology to enhance various sectors such as food, health and water management.

“Indonesia has been ready since decades ago to apply nuclear technology in many fields,” he said.

But he added that in response to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, IAEA member countries were scheduled to convene a ministerial meeting in June to review the standard safety procedures surrounding nuclear technology in their respective countries.

Indonesia’s science and technology attache in Switzerland, Syahril, who was in Indonesia to accompany Aning, said the IAEA hoped Indonesia could take the lead in the region for the innovative and safe application of nuclear technology.

Using Well Water, 4 Factories Raided in East Jakarta

BERITAJAKARTA.COM — 4/20/2011 

To minimize excessive illegal ground water usage, Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) raided four factories which suspected having illegal wells. They are PT. Lion Metal Work, PT. Duta Mega Matra Keramik and PT. Indonesia Acid which located in Jl. Raya Bekasi, Cakung, and PT. Wasa Mitra Engineering in Jl. Raya Cacing, Cakung, East Jakarta.

According to Ridwan Panjaitan, Head of Law Enforcement for BPLHD who is also the raid leader, the factories raided because they still not use piped water (PAM) even though its pipelines already exist in the area. From the investigation conducted, PT. Lion Metal Work was found only have one well with the capacity of 386 cubic. In the permit, the ground water should be used only as water reserve, but based on investigation result on the field it is used as the main source. "This investigation usually takes one week,” he said, Wednesday (4/20).

Other companies also have wells. PT. Duta Mega Matra Keramik has two wells with each capacity 381 cubic and 23 cubic, PT. Wasa Mitra Engineering has one well with capacity 386 cubic, and PT. Indonesia Acid has three wells with each capacity 392 cubic, 338 cubic and 260 cubic. "Ideally, they should’ve use PAM water, because continues using of ground water will cause negative impact," he said.

Cheating that usually happens on the field is a company made well but without BPLHD permission. Sometimes, the water meter PAM installed is tricked with certain objects so the meter does not run as it should be but the water still flows normally. Moreover, the meter seal is also destructed. "This control is to optimize water PAM usage and suppress ground water (ABT) abuse that is not in accordance with the regulation exists," he stated.

Based on Jakarta BPLHD 2009-2010 data, there were 122 business activity locations given a warning, 44 sealed, and 72 concreted. There were also Rp 4.9 billion civil sanctions for 12 business activity locations because they use water ground without any permission and did not pay the tax. Even, four laundry companies were sanctioned by West Jakarta District Court and fined Rp 15 million each with subsidiary four months confinement.

While in 2011, BPLHD has conducted supervision on 117 locations until March. From that amount, 28 of them sealed and 9 concreted.