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The Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development will hold the Second National Congress on Philippine Lakes April 27-29, 2011 at SEARCA, Los Baños, Laguna. Dubbed as the LakeCon 2011, the Congress aims to enhance public awareness, explore new perspectives and options for coping with sweeping development imperatives, build on existing knowledge, find better solutions to growing environmental threats and foster stronger alliances for decisive action.

The Congress has the theme "Building on the Pillars on Integrated Lake Basin Management" to create awareness on integrated lake basin management (ILBM) as an option that can be applied at the national and local levels and to help the country move forward strategically to a common framework for lake management.

ILBM is an approach that considers lakes and their basins as simple mutually-interacting management units. ILBM integrates six management elements or pillars resiliency, namely institutions, policy, stakeholder participation, technology, science, and finances.

The complexities of this approach require the converging in a single venue of the experts, key stakeholders, decision makers and financing sources to share their knowledge and experiences, promote collaboration and linkages, and build consensus on the future of basin-wide approaches to lake management.

In 2003, the First National Congress on Philippine Lakes or LakeCon 2003 brought together more than 100 stakeholders from government, academe, NGOs, Local Government Units and business companies who signed a declaration on their vision of Philippine lakes as heritage and pride of the Filipino people.

The Congress became a launching pad for organizing the Philippine Lakes Network (PlaNet), a group of individuals committed to strengthening partnerships and information sharing on the status of lake and inland resources.

Seven years hence, the country's lakes remain threatened by growing demands for fish, water supply electricity, transportation routes, vegetation and habitats and the perils from climate change, land degradation, pollution, flooding and population fluxes to shore land areas.

For more information on LakeCon 2011, please visit http://www.pcamrd.dost.gov.ph/lakecon/.

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The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) successfully installed automated weather stations (AWS) in four barangays in Bacolod and Iloilo, and two barangays in Jolo, Sulu recently.

Meanwhile AWS was deployed in Jaro, Iloilo City’s Agro-Meteorological Garden of the Department of Agriculture - Regional Office Field Unit VI.

In Bacolod City, Barangay Felisa received an automated weather station (AWS), while Barangays Tangub, Estefania and Alangilan had installed their respective rain gauges, according to City Councilor Mona Dia Jardin.

“AWS have a critical role in hazard mitigation in the country, particularly during typhoons and floods,” DOST Sec. Mario Montejo said. “These equipment will help the country save lives and property.”

Automated weather stations are stand-alone devices that measure weather-related factors and transmit data remotely on real-time basis.

DOST-8 Regional Director Rowen Gelonga said that more of these facilities will be installed in Aklan, Capiz and Negros Occidental. “Water level stations will also be deployed to get real-time assessment of flood threats,” he added.

Meanwhile, DOST-ARMM installed automatic rain gauge and water level monitoring station at the Walled City municipal hall grounds and San Raymundo port area in Jolo, Sulu, respectively.

One of the automated weather stations installed in the provinces.

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The Metals Industry Research and Development Center of the Department of Science and Technology is currently developing a microhydro turbine for power and irrigation use that is seen to help local farmers and communities located away from power grids.

“The dual function of microhydro turbine would make it a very helpful facility,” said Science Secretary Mario Montejo. “It helps increase crop yield by pumping water into the fields and provide power to remote communities.”

The microhydro turbine is a hydraulic system that integrates pump and turbine for pumping water, an action that generates electricity. The pump and turbine share one prime mover powered by water.

With the installed centrifugal pump in the turbine’s water power shaft, part of the power is used by the pump to deliver water at higher elevation for irrigation use. Meanwhile, the remaining power is utilized by converting mechanical energy into electricity, from DC 12 volts to AC 220 volts.

The generated electricity is low-cost and serves as a clean replacement for fuels, such as kerosene and diesel which are often expensive and a source of pollutants.

The MIRDC is currently field testing the prototype turbine to determine its full capacity. The turbine’s centrifugal pump has a capacity of 60 liters/minute. Its turbine is run-off-the-river propeller type, with a 1kw capacity, a 130 liters/second volume flow and 1.5 meters head. An automotive type, the turbine has both AC and DC alternator,. An input of 12 volts and output of 220 volts.

The turbine project of MIRDC helps meet the needs of the Filipino farmers and enables villages located in remote areas to light up their homes and engage in small business. (Marlyn Ramones, S&T MediaService)

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The country’s prime agencies on science and technology and health are joining forces to give reliable solutions to crucial health problems that affect folks particularly in the grassroots.

One is the partnership between the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Health to fight dengue through the national roll out of the Mosquito Ovicidal/ Larvicidal Trap system.

Following its successful launch last February in Tacloban City, DOST through its Industrial Technology Development Institute is set to produce additional 500,000 kits to be distributed to 125,000 households nationwide.

This is on top of the 200,000 sets previously distributed to various regions last February. The distribution of additional OL Traps, according to DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo, just proves that “the government is really bent on reducing the number of dengue cases in the country.”

The additional OL Trap kits will be distributed from July until December, in time for the rainy seasons. Each recipient household, previously identified by the DOH, will receive four sets of kits and six months supply of the organic pellets, all for free.

“With the additional OL Trap kits for distribution, we can fully cover all the dengue prone areas in the country, and make further studies on these,” Montejo added.