Article 146p. 146

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS STATUTES and IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

ARTICLE 23. Priorities may be altered on grounds of

greater beneficial use, multi-purpose use, and other

similar grounds after due notice and hearing, subject to

payment of compensation is proper cases.

ARTICLE 24. A water right shall be exercised in such a

manner that the rights of third persons or of other

appropriators are not prejudiced thereby.

ARTICLE 25. A holder of a water permit may demand the

establishment

of

easements

necessary

for

the

construction and maintenance of the works and facilities

needed for the beneficial use of the waters to be

appropriated

subject

to

the

requirements

of

just

compensation and to the following conditions:

a. That he is the owner, lessee, mortgagee or one having

real right over the land upon which he proposes to use

water; and

b. That the proposed easement is the most convenient

and the least onerous to the servient estate.

Easements relating to the appropriation and use of

waters

may

be

modified

by

agreement

of

the

contracting parties provided the same is not contrary to

law or prejudicial to third persons.

ARTICLE 26. Where water shortage is recurrent, the use

of the water pursuant to a permit may, in the interest of

equitable

distribution

of

benefits

among

legal

appropriators, be reduced after due notice and hearing.

ARTICLE 27. Water users shall bear the diminution of any

water supply due to natural causes or force majeure.

ARTICLE 28. Water permits shall continue to be valid as

long as water is beneficially used; however, it may be

suspended on the grounds of non-compliance with

approved plans and specifications or schedules of water

distribution; use of water for a purpose other than that

for which it was granted; non-payment of water charges;

wastage; failure to keep records of water diversion, when

required; and violation of any term or condition of any

permit or of rules and regulations promulgated by the

Council.

Temporary permits may be issued for the appropriation

and

use

of

water

for

short

periods

under

special

circumstances.

ARTICLE 29. Water permits may be revoked after due

notice

and

hearing

on

grounds

of

non-use;

gross

violation

of

the

conditions

imposed

in the permit;

unauthorized sale of water; willful failure or refusal to

comply with rules and regulations or any lawful order;

pollution, public nuisance or acts detrimental to public

health and safety; when the appropriator is found to be

disqualified under the law to exploit and develop natural

resources

of

the

Philippines; when, in the case of

irrigation,

the

land

is

converted to non-agricultural

purposes; and other similar grounds.

ARTICLE 30. All water permits are subject to modification

or cancellation by the Council, after due notice and

hearing, in favor of a project of greater beneficial use or

for multi-purpose development, and a water permittee

who suffers thereby shall be duly compensated by the

entity or person in whose favor the cancellation was

made.

CHAPTER IV Utilization of Waters

ARTICLE 31. Preference in the development of water

resources shall consider security of the State, multiple

use, beneficial effects, adverse effects and costs of

development.

ARTICLE 32. The utilization of subterranean or ground

water shall be coordinated with that of surface waters

such as rivers, streams, springs and lakes, so that a

superior right in one is not adversely affected by an

inferior right in the other.

For this purpose the Council shall promulgate rules and

regulations and declare the existence of control areas for

the coordinated development, protection, and utilization

of subterranean or ground water and surface waters.

Control area is an area of land where subterranean or

ground water and surface water are so interrelated that

withdrawal and use in one similarly affects the other. The

boundary of a control area may be altered from time to

time, as circumstances warrant.

ARTICLE 33. Water contained in open canals, aqueducts

or reservoirs of private persons may be used by any

person for domestic purpose or for watering plants as

long as the water is withdrawn by manual methods

without checking the stream or damaging the canal,

aqueduct or reservoir; Provided, That this right may be

restricted by the owner should it result in loss or injury to

him.

ARTICLE 34. A water permittee or appropriator may use

any watercourse to convey water to another point in the

watercourse for the purpose stated in a permit and such

water may be diverted or recaptured at that point by

said permittee in the same amount less allowance for

normal losses in transit.

ARTICLE 35. Works for the storage, diversion, distribution

and utilization of water resources shall contain adequate

provision for the prevention and control of diseases that

may be induced or spread by such works when required

by the Council.

ARTICLE 36. When the reuse of waste water is feasible, it

shall be limited as much as possible, to such uses other

than direct human consumption. No person or agency

shall distribute such water for public consumption until

it is demonstrated that such consumption will not

adversely affect the health and safety of the public.

ARTICLE

37.

In

the

construction

and

operation

of

hydraulic works, due consideration shall be given to the

preservation of scenic places and historical relics and, in

addition to the provisions of existing laws, no works that

would require the destruction or removal of such places

or relics shall be undertaken without showing that the

destruction or removal is necessary and unavoidable.

ARTICLE 38. Authority for the construction of dams,

bridges

and

other

structures

across of which may

interfere

with

the

flow

of

navigable

or

floatable

waterways shall first be secured from the Department of

Public Works, Transportation and Communications.

ARTICLE 39. Except in cases of emergency to save life or

property, the construction or repair of the following

works shall be undertaken only after the plans and

specifications

therefor,

as

may

be required by the

Council, are approved by the proper government agency;

dams for the diversion or storage of water; structures for

the use of water power, installations for the utilization of

subterranean or ground water and other structures for

utilization of water resources.

ARTICLE 40. No excavation for the purpose of emission of

a hot spring or for the enlargement of the existing

opening thereof shall be made without prior permit.

Any person or agency who intends to develop a hot

spring for human consumption must first obtain a

permit from the Department of Health.

© 2018 Compiled by RGL

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