GROUNDWATER

EXPLORATION AND
EXPLOITATION IN
THE PHILIPPINES.
Groundwater as a resource
The Philippines obtains its water supply
from different sources. These include: rainfall
, surface sources , i.e. rivers , lakes , and
reservoirs , and groundwater resources. It
has 18 major river basins and 421 principal
river basins as defined by the National Water
Regulatory Board(NWRB).
 In terms of groundwater , the country has
an extensive groundwater reservoir with an
aggregate area of about 50,000sq. Km. Data
from Mines and Geosciences Bureau(MGB)
show that several groundwater basins are
underlain by about 100,000sq.km of various
rock formation and that these resources are
locates in:
Northeast Luzon Northeast Leyte
Central Luzon Ormoc-Kananga basin
Laguna lake basin Agusan-Davao basin
Cavite- Batangas-Laguna Basin Occidental Misamis basin
Southeast Luzon Lanao-Bukidnon-Misamis basin
Mindoro Island
Negros Island
Groundwater resources are continuously
recharged by rain and seepage.
Groundwater exploration

Is the investigation of underground formations

to understand the hydrologic cycle , know the
groundwater quality , and identify the nature ,
number and type of aquifers.
 Most of the liquid freshwater resources are stored
underground as groundwater (99%). The regional
distribution on earth , however , varies and depends
mainly on climatic conditions as well as the geology of
the subsurface. In contrast to many raw materials , a
great amount of the groundwater is recharged in the
hydrologic cycle by infiltrating precipitation.
 A detailed knowledge on groundwater resources
enables its sustainable use , where the regional
distribution of resources , the hydraulic characteristics of
the aquifer as well as the regional and temporal
variations of the water quality are important factors. The
recharge , the natural runoff and groundwater
abstraction rates have also to be known for sustainable
groundwater management.
 The data required for a resource assessment are
obtained by:
 hydrogeological exploration , observations and
measurements at boreholes and wells
 geophysical investigations on the earth’s surface
 airbone geophysical survey
 satellite image analysis or meteorological observations.
 A number of geophysical standard methods such as
geoelectrics , transient electromagnetics and airbone
electromagnetics are applied for groundwater
exploration. The surface nuclear magnetic resonance
method and the seismoelectric method are rather new
and they are still being developed. Databases combined
with GIS methods are used to store and display the
data. The data evaluation , being digital and increasingly
three dimensional , comprises all stages of conceptual
to numerical modelling.
VOLCANIC
ROCK
SANDSTONE
S
EXPLORATION TOOLS
Groundwater exploitation
Is referred to the extraction of water for irrigation and human
consumption. Water exploitation is greatly connected with
agriculture.
Nevertheless, a large contribution to water exploitation is
connected with the industrial and residential sectors and ,
seasonally, with tourism. Water exploitation can be estimated by
“the exploitation index” that is defined as withdrawal of
conventional freshwater resources(surface and groundwater)over
total renewable resources(expressed in %).
 The proper exploitation of ground water resources
involves apart from the location of suitable source, the
construction of properly designed wells. The design and
the execution of water supply systems and their
maintenance is an integral part of the scheme of
exploration and management. Numerous problems of
ground water exploration & exploitation require
systematic use of scientific techniques.