Delta Life Nr. 4 September 2015

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32 DELTARES, SEPTEMBER 2015
PHILIPPINES
The Philippines are one of the most vulnerable countries in
the world. The archipelago, with an estimated 105 million
inhabitants, is hit every year by about twenty typhoons.
The storms seem to be getting ever stronger because
of global climate change. The intense rainfall during the
passage of these tropical storms is almost more than the
rivers can manage. The urban agglomeration of Metro
Manila alone has a population of more than ten million,
it is located on fault lines and its low-lying location in the
river delta exposes it to flooding from two sides. Strong
population growth and economic development mean that
water management faces particularly daunting challenges:
clean drinking water, irrigation water for agriculture during
periods of drought, and also adequate arrangements for
removing excess water. The World Bank asked Deltares to
make an assessment of the water management plans for
all larger catchments. Do they take climate developments
into account adequately? Are the costs of interventions
reasonable in relation to the returns? Deltares can draw on
many years of experience in the Philippines and the various
models that have already been produced in the past. Of
course, the hope is that the impact of super-typhoons such
as Haiyan in 2013, when there were more than 7000 fatal
casualties, will become a thing of the past.
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PHOTO: THINKSTOCK