BACKGROUND

The Philippines now has the second lowest supply of water per capita in the ASEAN region despite abundant rainfall due to poor infrastructure and management (NEDA-PIDS, 2015).

The quality of water resources has been increasingly subjected to pollution from untreated sewage, industrial wastes, livestock wastes, agro-chemicals, and sediments that end up in water bodies and aquatic ecosystems, reducing the effective supply of water to meet the different types of water demands (Chico River Report, 2004).

The two main causes why Cagayan Valley remains underdeveloped are: 1) inundations at the tributaries and flood plains with great loss of lives and properties; 2) water inadequacies in irrigation and domestic water supply affecting both the local and national economies (Cagayan River Master Plan, 2013).

Thereby, a University-based water center is needed to lead collaborative R&D/E efforts among NGAs, academe, private, NGO and other stakeholders in the sector.

VISION

A world class center providing S & T solution through research, extension, laboratory services and capacity building in the water sector.

MISSION

• Provide S & T support for the development and management of water and related resources in Cagayan valley consistent to national and regional development plan;
• Conduct and Strengthen R & D collaboration with local, national and international stakeholders and partners;
• Undertake Capacity building through degree, non-degree and innovative training programs

GOAL

Establish and institutionalize a university-based water resource (including air, soil and health) center to undertake a comprehensive R&D, Education and Capacity Building programs in the water sector and provide technical laboratory services for the Cagayan Valley region.

1. Research and Development
   • Coordinate research programs such as: assessment studies on the current state of the national, regional or local water resources; appraisal studies to integrate national policies and plans for an integrated water resources management; and planning, design and operational studies related water utilization and water-related disasters.
   • Provide scientific and technical support for development and updating of a comprehensive water resources plans of the country across different water sectors or uses including the review and integration of land use plan to this water resources plan.
   • Conduct operations studies related to optimal utilization of water resources, including water allocation or control protocols and operating rules of all existing and future water infrastructure (e.g., multipurpose reservoirs, irrigation systems).
   • Undertake river basin or hydrologic surveys on pilot scale (unless funds are available on large, long-term scale) to be able to plan, update and develop procedures and protocols for optimal sampling (i.e., frequency and location) of station networks including a centralized water resources data center.
   • Provide scientific and technical support or to be directly involved in the development and continuous updating of water resource management, computerized decision support system that incorporates data management system (acquisition and database), model base (physical, design, planning and decision models), and user-friendly interface (graphical and visualization tools).
   • Conduct special studies and researches on the economics of water demand, supply, and other water resources development and management issues and concerns (i.e. climate change, weather modification, flood monitoring and modelling, environmental quality, desalination etc).
   • Administer annual competitive grants available to individual or team of researchers and or graduate students to undertake research on water resources.
2. Partnerships and Collaborations
   • Collaborating with NIA in the planning and design of irrigation development and management at basin and national levels, independent monitoring and evaluation of irrigation projects, and assessment of performance of irrigation infrastructure
   • Assisting NEDA in the technical ex ante evaluation of foreign funded and large locally funded water-related projects and DBM in evaluating budget proposals from water agencies.
   • Undertaking ex post rates of returns evaluations of water related public investments, including the development of time-series, cross-section data bases necessary for more rigorous conduct of impact studies.
3. Communications and Policy Advocacy
   • Develop a water resource data center that will collate and regularly update all-time series, national, and sub-national data and maps on climatic, hydrologic, topographic, agro-ecological and other water-related variables for sharing with all researchers, students, private water enterprises, and government entities. WRCs should also endeavor to act as repository of all water-related data bases developed from both secondary sources and collected from primary sources through surveys, focused group discussions, technical measurements, and others generated in the course of technical studies using government funds, which should eventually be shared with other researchers and public in general, after allowing sufficient period of time for the original researchers to complete the analysis of the data as provided in the project proposal. WRCs should continually identify new sources of data and data gaps, as well as advocate for the improvement of the content, coverage, quality and accessibility of water-related data.
   • Facilitate access to relevant local and international literature related to the technical and socio-economic, and institutional aspects of water resource development and management.
4. Capacity Building
   • Assist in the development or enhancement of academic degree programs and design and conduct of short-term training activities related to water resources development and management.
   • Conduct networking activities related to water-related research and development functions such as seminars, conferences, and workshops
   • Organize materials and public awareness programs in pursuit of more informed stakeholders, private water providers, and government entities.

• Supports the Offering of PhD in Water Resource Management of the College of Engineering;
• Establish a 2-hectare research and demonstration farm;
• Assist in the conduct of international conference in CCA-DRRM;
• Conducted trainings on small scale irrigation, crop modeling and watershed modeling, solar-powered irrigation system; -held at CVAARRD-ISU, CSU, QSU
• Represents ISU in the Regular Council Meetings of the Cagayan River Basin Management Council;
• Co-organized the conduct of International Training-Workshop on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in River Basins for Sustainable Development.