INATASAN ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ang Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) upang magsumite ng rekomendasyon upang mabawasan ang epekto ng El Niño phenomenon sa bansa.

“We will have a plan for the mitigation of the effects of El Niño this week. I just spoke to the Secretary of DENR this morning and she has told me that she will be prepared to make public what needs to be done,” ani Pangulong Marcos.

“Presently, just to mitigate the effects of El Niño this coming – at least for this year, right now DENR, Public Works, DA (Department of Agriculture) especially NIA (National Irrigation Administration) are working together,” dagdag pa ng Pangulo.

Ang WRMO ay itinayo sa pamamagitan ng Executive Order 22. Nasa ilalim ito ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos na tutulong si dating Public Works and Highways secretary Rogelio Singson sa pagtugon sa problema.

Ayon sa Pangulo si Singson, isang water management expert, ay tutulong sa paggawa ng contingency plan para sa El Niño.

Iginiit din ng Pangulo ang kahalagahan na ang maging pangunahing mapagkukuhanan ng tubig ay surface water sa halip na ground water o deep well.

“Because we have enough surface water. It’s just a question of protecting it. We are designing now a system of catchment basins not only for flood control. The original plan was only for flood control. But now, we have said we have to… that flood control always now includes irrigation and sometimes even power, if we can do it,” dagdag pa ni Pangulong Marcos.

Sinabi rin ng Pangulo na ang National Irrigation Administration (NIA) ay mayroong disenyo upang matiyak na magkakaroon pa rin ng suplay ng tubig ang mga taniman mula sa mga kasalukuyang dam.