Using community-generated data for water management policy

As population and their demands for water continue to rise, water resources in turn become more scarce. In the Philippines, where surface water constitutes about three quarters of the country's fresh water supply and comes largely from rivers and lakes sourced from the forest ecosystem or the watersheds, its growing scarcity is thus largely associated with the degradation of watersheds. And because of the spatial nature of such concerns, their solutions require locally-based action that is consistent with decisions and support at the watershed and national levels. Certainly, communities located within watershed areas and headwaters are the most affected by problems in the watersheds. As such, it is only appropriate that they should take on a more active role in addressing such concerns and in influencing decisions and policies that relate to them.