DPWH launches river-flow monitoring, management website

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development’s (Usaid) Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability (Be Secure) project to come up with a website that will turn the DPWH’s current stream-flow data sets into digitized ones for use in incorporating measures for flood mitigation and management. 

“For a while now, access to river-flow information is limited and has been only available upon request. With the launching the Streamflow Management System [SMS] website, we will have accessible records and maps of river-flow stations, initially from river-gauging stations in Regions 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12,” Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said.

The SMS website, handled by the DPWH Bureau of Design-Water Projects Division (BOD-WPD), had a soft launch on June 2, and is expected to be fully operational by October.

“It will eventually operate on a nationwide scale and will be beneficial in terms of water resource regulation, flood control and management, in localized disaster-risk planning, and in coming up with water resources development plans across the country,” Singson said.

The historical information of river-flow data is used to generate a discharge measurement that allows engineers, and water resources planners to use this information to design sustainable and resilient infrastructures and to plan for the country’s water resources.

The Usaid Be Secure Project was requested by the DPWH to provide technical assistance in advancing the data-gathering technology through the SMS website. The SMS supports the National Hydrologic Data Collection Program and trains DPWH national and field personnel to improve data collection and analysis, based on the unique characteristics of river basins in the country.