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Community-Assisted Hydrologic Monitoring: A Kalinga Experience

Daniel C. Peckley Jr., PhD1), Fides Lovella A. Baddongon2) and Eduardo T. Bagtang, DBM3)

1) Project Officer V, Kalinga Apayao State College (KASC)Bulanao Campus, Tabuk City, 3800, Philippines

[email protected]) Institute of Mathematics, Engineering, and Agro-industral Techology, KASC

Tabuk City, Kalinga, 3800, Philippines

fides_baddongon @yahoo.com3) Administration, KASC

Tabuk City, Kalinga, 3800, Philippines

[email protected]

Abstract

Harnessing the hydropower-generation potential of the rivers in the Cordillera Administrative

Region in Northern Luzon can jumpstart rural development in the region. These resources,

however, have hardly been tapped and developed due to the historical opposition to

hydropower projects among the indigenous cultural communities in the area and the lack of

hydrologic data to establish the energy-generation potential of these rivers.

This short paper presents a concrete illustration of how an indigenous cultural community has

become actively involved in hydrologic data gathering and monitoring for a proposed

hydropower project. Through a deliberate and planned participation of the community in this

resource-monitoring activity, support for the proposed project have been consolidated amongcommunity members.

In Kalinga and practically the entire Northern Luzon, much has yet to be done in the area ofhydrologic data gathering and monitoring, whether for water resources allocation, natural

disaster mitigation or research endeavors related to global cimate change. The experiencepresented herein shows that a practical approach to a supposedly highly technical endeavor

involves giving due importance to socio-economic factors.

Keywords: hydrologic data gathering, community involvement and support

1. Poverty incidence, hydropower development in the Cordillera Administrative Region

(CAR) and the Upper Tabuk Hydropower Project

The poorest provinces in Northern Luzon are all in the Cordillera Administrative Region

(CAR) (See Figure 1), according to a study conducted by the Philippine National Statistical

Coordination Board (NSCB) in cooperation with the World Bank (NSCB, 2005). These

provinces, namely Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mt. Province, have poverty incidences

ranging from 0.4270 to 0.5460, the study says. Figures from the local government of Kalinga,

however, cite a poverty incidence (as of 2007) of 0.7962 for the province, and for its capital

city, Tabuk, 0.62.


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Coincidentally, electricitycosts per kWh in these five

poorest provinces are knownto be among the most highest

in the country. Forhouseholds in Kalinga, for

example, electricity cost

(including generation,

transmission and distribution

costs) per kWh is around

PhP10, while in other parts of

Luzon it is around PhP8 (DPJ

Engrs, 2008a).

Known as the watershed

cradle of Northern Luzon,CAR is rich in waterresources for hydropower

generation. Developing andharnessing these resources is

thus one way that poverty canbe reduced and income

increased in the

aforementioned provinces. In

Kalinga alone, the potential

for small hydropower

development (excluding very large dam hydropower development) was reported to be around

141MW (Harza, 1993).

Despite the potential, especially in Kalinga, these hydropower resources still remain largely

untapped and undeveloped. This situation can be attributed to the following factors, among

others:

a) Social acceptability concerns, including opposition and strong sentiments ofindigenous peoples (IPs) in Kalinga and other provinces in the Cordilleras againsthydropower.

The history of resistance against hydropower development among Kalingas and other

IPs in the Cordilleras stems from the following experiences with previous hydropower

projects, starting in the 1950s, through the turbulent years of the late 1970s and early

1980s, up to the 1990s:

a.1) Dislocations and claims of unfulfilled resettlement promises (CPA, 2001; Cario,

1999; Carranza, 2001);

a.2) Disrespect of/disregard for indigenous peoples rights and non-recognition of

their ancestral domain (CPA, 2001; Cario, 1999; Carranza, 2001; DPJ Engrs,

2008b);and

Figure 1. Provincial poverty incidence map of NorthernLuzon (National Statistical Coordination Board [NSCB],

2005


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a.3) Past human rights abuses and killings by the governments military forces whenopposition became strong (CPA, 2001; Cario, 1999; Carranza, 2001; DPJ Engrs,

2008b).

b) No available hydrologic data to establish hydropower generation potential. Oppositionto hydropower development and security risks make data gathering difficult, as wasthe case in 1993 when community members did not allow the National Power

Corporation (NPC), a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation, to

install a staff gage to measure streamflow of the Tanudan River in Bgy. Dupag, Tabuk

City, Kalinga

It was against this backdrop that LGU Tabuk proposed the Upper Tabuk Hydropower Project

in Bgy. Dupag. In the 1990s, the NPC introduced the project as the Tanudan D Small

Hydropower Project, but LGU Tabuk renamed it, as the LGU sought to limit the areas to beaffected by the project within its political jurisdiction. When limited only to its jurisdiction,

the proposed project, which involves the construction of a 35m high dam along the TanudanRiver, shall have an installed capacity of 10MW and is estimated to generate around 50GWh

of electricity.

The host community of the project, which is the Minanga Sub-tribe of Kalinga in Bgy. Dupag,

was among the Kalinga tribes who resisted the Chico IV Hydropower Project in the 1980s.

The community also opposed the implementation of the Tanudan D Project, as they claimed

they were not properly consulted during the feasibility study for the said project. Considering

this historical context, getting the support of the host community in the current project was a

paramount concern.

The objective of this paper is to present how socio-economic factors were considered incoming up to with a methodology to monitor riverflow and rainfall, as part of the ongoing

comprehensive feasibility study for the proposed project. A preliminary review of the

ongoing hydrologic monitoring program is also presented.

2. Description of the community-assisted hydrologic monitoring program

When the Upper Tabuk Hydropower Project was proposed, the first task was to identify thehost community and its influential elders and leaders. While the host community was made

aware of the ultimate objective of the proposed project, i.e., to reduce electricity costs in

Tabuk City, Kalinga, they were also made to understand that under existing laws in the

country, like the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, they have rights that have

to be considered in the development and implementation of the project and they also stand to

benefit from the revenues that will be generated (DOE, 2002). Two important pre-conditions

that the community included in the development of the project are that they be continuously

informed and involved in the project and that the proposed project result in employment and

livelihood opportunities (DPJ Engrs, 2008b). Evidently, the communitys support for the

proposed project can be strengthened if and when they can be directly involved and can

benefit from the activities of the ongoing feasibility study.

Given the above considerations and the fact that hydrologic monitoring for the proposed

project is an on-site activity that would involve some significant period of time, themonitoring program was designed such that it would have the following features:


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For monitoring river flow:

a) A 6-m staff gage1shall be used tomonitor river flow.

The installation of a

staff gage involves

hauling, concrete

pouring and other

activities where

members of the host

community can earn

wages (See Photos 1

and 2).

Since the installationof the staff gage

would take 3 to 5days (including

hauling to the site which is around 2km from where it can be delivered by truck), thisactivity can provide an opportunity to informally interact with members of the

community, especially

those who still have

questions or concerns

about the proposed project

and the activities of the

ongoing feasibility study.

This was in fact the case

during the staff gage

installation. Members of

the community who had

concerns on the proposedproject were invited to help

haul and install the gage,and informal discussions

with them resulted in mostof their concerns being

addressed.

1 The staff gage should be high enough so that it can measure the most likely depth of the Tanudan River during

extreme events such as Typhoon Ilyang in 1998 and Typhoon Harurot in 2008. According to members of thehost community (Minanga Tribe, Bgy. Dupag, Tabuk City), when Typhoons Ilyang and Harurot struck, thewater levels at the staff gage site were between 4m and 5m from the present water level. The flood marks along

the river confirm this observation. It was thus decided that the staff gage should have a length of at least 6m.

Another technical consideration in the design of the staff gage is that it should be installed at site where it willnot be vulnerable to direct hit by flowing debris, e.g. logs. As shown in Photo 1, a natural rocky slope barrierprotects the staff gage from being directly hit by a log.

Photo 1. Location of staff gage, around 560m downstreamfrom dam site of the proposed Upper Tabuk Hydropower

Project

Photo 2. Installation of staff gage with community members


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Photo 3. Mobile phone equipped with digital camera for

taking daily photos of water elevations

b) Daily water-level readings using the staff gage shall be recorded manually bycommunity members, who will receive monthly monetary incentives for doing so. To

ensure that this will be carried out conscientiously, the project team, together with thethe barangay council members and elders, conducted a training for volunteers who

shall be visiting the staff gage site at 6AM every morning to read and record the waterlevel. Recording by volunteers started on 28 October 2008.

While an automated water-level data logger system can be more reliable in recording

the daily fluctuations of the river water level, the site does not have a power supply

and such system would have to be protected from vandalism. Installing an automated

and high-tech flow measurement sensor or device with its own powersource, e.g.solar cells, was thereby evidently not a practical solution. Even when an automated

system can be devised for the project site, it could have been a lot more expensive

than the installation of the staff gage and the year-round monthly incentives for the

recorders.

c) For verification of themanual records, a

photograph of thestaff gage and water

elevation shall betaken at every visit

using a mobile phone

equipped with a

digital camera (SeePhoto 3). The digital

photos, which are

date- and time-stamped, shall be

downloaded to a

personal computer

(PC).

For monitoring rainfall and other weather parameters:

d) The rainfall/weather monitoring system shall be an automated PC-based system.Unlike river water-level monitoring, weather monitoring that involves a number ofweather parameters like rainfall, temperature, humidity and others can be better

carried out with an automated system.

e) Operation of the system should be simple. For this particular monitoring program, thesystem that was installed involves only turning the PC on and running the software

that downloads the weather data and stores it in the PC hard disk.

f) The PC of the weather monitoring system, when stationed at the barangay hall ofDupag (See Photos 4 and 5), can serve not only as a repository of weather data and

digital photographs from the river flow monitoring activity (item c above), it can also

be used for encoding in the drafting and encoding of barangay resolutions and otherofficial documents of the council. Recently, the PC was also used for showing film


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features on damsand hydropower

projectsproduced by the

DiscoveryChannel and

National

Geographic.

For a more detailed

technical description of

the entire hydrologic

monitoring program,

the reader is referred to

DPJEngrs (2008c).

3. Results and discussion

Hydrologic data gatheringusing the staff gage and

weather monitoring system

described above has been

going on for almost 3

months. Photos 6 show

samples of digital photos

of the staff gage, taken

from Nov. 17 to Nov. 27,

2008. Figure 2, on the

other hand, presents dataobtained from the weather

monitoring system. It isworthwhile to note that

community volunteershave carried out these

monitoring activitiesconscientiously and with enthusiasm such that they even take the initiative to remind

whoever is in charge not to miss visiting the staff gage and turning on the PC to download

weather data.

While the hydrologic data being gathered would be very useful in confirming the

hydropower-generation potential of the proposed project, what is more important in this

particular project, as would perhaps be in any hydropower or dam projects in CAR, is the

goodwill that was established with the host community by letting them become active

participants in the ongoing hydrologic monitoring program. In a meeting that was held

together with the representatives of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

on January 8, 2008, the host community elders and members expressed a unified and strongdesire and interest in the immediate implementation of the proposed project.

Photo 4. Rain gage and wind sensor units of a La Crosse

Professional Weather Station installed beside the Bgy.Council Hall of Dupag, Tabuk City

Photo 5. Base station of the weather station with PC for data

logging and controls


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11.17.2008 6:12AM 11.18.2008 6:30AM 11.19.2008 6:23AM 11.20.2008 6:24AM

11.21.2008 6:38AM 11.21.2008 4:48PM 11.22.2008 6:12AM 11.23.2008 6:27AM

11.24.2008 6:28AM 11.25.2008 6:12AM 11.26.2008 6:45AM 11.27.2008 6:50AM

Photo 6. Digital photos of the staff gage taken from Nov. 17, 2008 to Nov. 27, 2008

Figure 2. Rainfall data from Nov. 15, 2008 to Nov. 29, 2008


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4. Conclusions

The decision to adopt a hydrologic monitoring program with active participation from thehost community resulted not only in successfully gathering data itself but also in gaining

stronger support for the proposed Upper Tabuk Hydropower Project. In most areas in CARand perhaps in the entire Northern Luzon, much has yet to be done in the area of hydrologic

data gathering and monitoring, whether for water resources allocation, natural disaster

mitigation or research endeavors related to global cimate change. The experience presented

herein shows that a practical approach to a supposedly highly technical endeavor involves

giving due importance to socio-economic factors.

5. Acknowledgement

The installation of the staff gage and the PC-based weather monitoring system was an

initiative of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Tabuk headed by Mayor Camilo T.

Lammawin Jr.

6. References

Asian Development Bank (ADB, 2007): The Philippines: Critical Constraints toDevelopment.

Carino, J. K. (1999): Dams, Indigenous People and Vulnerable Ethnic Minorities:A Case Study on the Ibaloy People and the Agno River Basin, Province of Benguet,

Philippines, Contributing Paper, World Commission on Dams.

Carranza, R. (2001): Memories of a Kalinga elder: Recalling the Past, Confronting

the Present. http://www.bulatlat.com/news/2-12/2-12-recalling.html.

Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA, 2001): Dams in the Cordillera.

www.internationalrivers.org/files/021214.corddams.pdf

Department of Energy (DOE, 2006): Benefits to Host Communities Pursuant to Rule 29,

EPIRA-IRR.

DPJ Engineers & Consultants (DPJ Engrs, 2008a): Comparisons among electric bills issued

by KAELCO in Tabuk City, Kalinga, MERALCO in Quezon City, Metro Manila, and

QUEZELCO in Gen. Nakar, Quezon.

DPJ Engineers & Consultants (DPJ Engrs 2008b): Final Report on The Upper Tabuk

Irrigation and Small Hydropower Project: Comprehensive Feasibility Study Stage I. LGUTabuk City.

DPJ Engineers & Consultants (DPJ Engrs 2008c): Technical Report on the Installation of aStaff Gage and Weather Monitoring System for the proposed Upper Tabuk Hydropower

Project. LGU Tabuk City.

HARZA ENGINEERING COMPANY INTERNATIONAL LP in association

with INTERNAFIL DEVT & CONSULTANCY, INC. (Harza, 1993): Small Hydropower

Projects Luzon B, Final Report Vol. I: Main Report, Vol. IV: Tanudan D Project, and

Appendix A: Hydrology.

National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB, 2005): Estimation of Local Poverty in the

Philippines.

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