Policy, objectives, and governing framework
- Article 2 requires the Code to establish basic principles and a framework for the appropriation, control, and conservation of water resources for optimum development and rational utilization.
- Article 2 requires the Code to define the extent of rights and obligations of water users and owners, including protection and regulation of those rights.
- Article 2 makes the Code the basic law governing ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development, conservation, and protection of water resources and rights to land related thereto.
- Article 2 directs identification of the administrative agencies that enforce the Code.
- Article 3 establishes that:
- All waters belong to the State.
- State-owned waters cannot be the subject of acquisitive prescription.
- The State may allow water use or development by administrative concession.
- Government control and regulation of water resources is exercised through the National Water Resources Council (hereinafter, the Council).
- Water use preference must consider current usages and respond to changing national needs.
Core definitions and coverage of “waters”
- Article 4 defines “Waters” as water under the ground, water above the ground, water in the atmosphere, and waters of the sea within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines.
- Article 3 establishes the governing principle that State ownership governs all waters covered by this Code.
- Article 13 defines water right as the privilege granted by the government to appropriate and use water.
- Article 9 defines appropriation of water as acquisition of rights over use of waters or the taking/diverting of waters from a natural source in the manner and for any purpose allowed by law.
- Article 20 defines beneficial use as utilization of water in the right amount during the period needed to produce the benefits for which water is appropriated.
- Article 32 defines control area as an area where subterranean/ground water and surface water are so interrelated that withdrawal and use in one similarly affects the other.
- Article 33 defines the type of private use allowed for open canals, aqueducts, or reservoirs by manual withdrawal for domestic purposes or watering plants.
- Article 51 establishes measurement boundaries for the public use easement zone along banks/shores, measured from the margin.
State ownership rules; domestic use on private lands
- Article 5 declares that the following belong to the State:
- Rivers and their natural beds.
- Continuous or intermittent waters of springs and brooks running in natural beds, and the beds themselves.
- Natural lakes and lagoons.
- Other surface waters including water flowing over lands, rainfall water (natural or artificial), and agricultural runoff, seepage, and drainage.
- Water in the atmosphere.
- Subterranean or ground waters.
- Seawater.
- Article 6 declares that certain waters found on private lands still belong to the State, including continuous or intermittent waters rising on private land, naturally occurring lakes and lagoons on private land, rain water falling on private land, subterranean/ground waters, and water in swamps and marshes.
- Article 6 allows the owner of the land where water is found to use the water for domestic purposes without securing a permit, provided the use is registered when required by the Council.
- Article 6 allows the Council to regulate domestic use by the landowner when there is wastage or during times of emergency.
- Article 7 provides that any person capturing/collecting water by means of cisterns, tanks, or pools has exclusive control over that captured water and the right to dispose of it, subject to the Code’s provisions.
- Article 8 provides that legally appropriated water is under the control of the appropriator from the moment it reaches the appropriator’s canal/aqueduct leading to the place of use or storage, so long as it is being beneficially used for the purpose appropriated.
Appropriation and permits: who may apply and how rights arise
- Article 9 recognizes that waters may be appropriated and used under the Code.
- Article 10 lists permitted purposes for appropriation and use: Domestic, Municipal, Irrigation, Power generation, Fisheries, Livestock raising, Industrial, Recreational, and Other purposes.
- Article 13 requires that no person, including government instrumentalities and government-owned or controlled corporations, shall appropriate water without a water right evidenced by a water permit, subject to exceptions under the Code.
- Article 14 exempts from the permit requirement:
- Appropriation by means of hand-carried receptacles; and
- Bathing or washing, watering or dipping domestic or farm animals, and navigation of watercrafts or transportation of logs and other objects by flotation.
- Article 15 limits who may apply for water permits to:
- Citizens of the Philippines, of legal age, and
- Juridical persons duly qualified by law to exploit and develop water resources.
- Article 16 requires water permit applicants to file with the Council, which must make the application known to the public for protests.
- Article 16 requires the Council, in deciding to grant or deny a permit, to consider protests (if any), prior permits, water availability, water supply needed for beneficial use, possible adverse effects, land-use economics, and other relevant factors.
- Article 16 provides that after approval, the Council issues and records the water permit.
- Article 17 provides that the right to use water is deemed acquired as of the date of filing of the application for approved permits, and as of the date of actual use where no permit is required.
- Article 18 makes all water permits subject to:
- Conditions of beneficial use,
- Adequate standards of design and construction, and
- Other terms and conditions imposed by the Council.
- Article 18 requires permits to specify maximum diversion/withdrawal, maximum rate, time(s) of diversion/withdrawal within the year, points of diversion or well locations, place of use, purposes, and other requirements the Council deems desirable.
- Article 19 requires prior approval by the Council for leasing or transfer of water rights in whole or in part, and requires due notice and hearing.
- Article 21 authorizes the Council to prescribe standards of beneficial use by purpose and conditions, and requires measurement/control and recordkeeping of water withdrawal for all appropriators except domestic use; the Council may require furnishing information on water use when required.
- Article 22 establishes priority between appropriators from the same sources: priority in time of appropriation gives the better right, except that in times of emergency, use for domestic and municipal purposes has a better right over all other uses.
- Article 22 imposes on the municipal appropriator (when municipal has a lower priority and shortage is recurrent) the duty to find an alternative source of supply following Council conditions.
- Article 23 allows alteration of priorities based on greater beneficial use, multi-purpose use, and similar grounds after due notice and hearing, and subject to proper payment of compensation.
- Article 24 requires water rights to be exercised so that third persons’ and other appropriators’ rights are not prejudiced.
- Article 25 allows a water permit holder to demand establishment of easements needed for construction/maintenance of works for beneficial use, subject to just compensation and conditions that the claimant is owner/lessee/mortgagee/has a real right over the servient land, and that the proposed easement is the most convenient and least onerous; easements may be modified by agreement if not contrary to law or prejudicial to third persons.
- Article 28 provides that permits remain valid as long as water is beneficially used, and allows suspension for:
- Non-compliance with approved plans/specifications or distribution schedules,
- Use for a purpose other than granted,
- Non-payment of water charges,
- Wastage,
- Failure to keep records of water diversion when required,
- Violation of any permit term/condition or Council rules and regulations.
- Article 28 allows temporary permits for short periods under special circumstances.
Beneficial use limits; priorities; emergencies; shortage
- Article 20 requires that beneficial use determines the measure and limit of appropriation.
- Article 21 requires measurement and control of use under standards prescribed by the Council, except domestic use.
- Article 22 governs priority among appropriators from the same source, and elevates domestic/municipal uses in emergencies.
- Article 23 permits changing priorities on specified grounds after due notice and hearing with compensation where proper.
- Article 26 authorizes the reduction of water use under permits during recurrent shortage for equitable distribution among legal appropriators, after due notice and hearing.
- Article 27 provides that water users bear diminution of supply due to natural causes or force majeure.
Validity, suspension, revocation, and modification of permits
- Article 28 makes beneficial use the continuing basis for permit validity.
- Article 29 provides that water permits may be revoked after due notice and hearing for non-use, gross violation, unauthorized sale, willful failure to comply with rules/orders, pollution/public nuisance/acts detrimental to public health and safety, disqualification of appropriator to exploit/develop natural resources, conversion of irrigation land to non-agricultural purposes, and other similar grounds.
- Article 30 authorizes the Council to modify or cancel permits after due notice and hearing in favor of projects of greater beneficial use or multi-purpose development, and requires compensation to a permittee adversely affected by the entity/person in whose favor cancellation is made.
Utilization rules: works, health, pollution, and navigation
- Article 31 requires preference in developing water resources to consider security of the State, multiple use, beneficial effects, adverse effects, and costs of development.
- Article 32 requires coordination between utilization of subterranean/ground water and surface waters to prevent a superior right in one from adversely affecting an inferior right in the other, and requires the Council to promulgate rules and declare control areas.
- Article 33 allows use of water contained in private open canals, aqueducts, or reservoirs by any person for domestic purposes or watering plants, as long as withdrawals are manual without checking the stream or damaging the conveyance, and allows the owner to restrict the right if loss/injury results.
- Article 34 allows a permittee/appropriator to use a watercourse to convey water to another point for the permit purpose, subject to diversion/recapture at that point in the same amount less normal transit losses.
- Article 35 requires water storage/diversion/distribution/utilization works to include adequate provisions to prevent/control diseases induced or spread by such works when required by the Council.
- Article 36 requires that feasible reuse of waste water be limited as much as possible to uses other than direct human consumption, and prohibits distribution for public consumption until demonstration that such consumption will not adversely affect public health and safety.
- Article 37 requires due consideration in construction/operation of hydraulic works for preservation of scenic places and historical relics, and prohibits works requiring destruction/removal without showing that destruction/removal is necessary and unavoidable.
- Article 38 requires prior authority from the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communications for construction of dams, bridges, and other structures across navigable or floatable waterways that may interfere with flow.
- Article 39 requires approval (except emergency to save life or property) from the proper government agency of plans and specifications required by the Council before construction or repair of dams for diversion/storage, structures for use of water power, installations for utilization of subterranean/ground water, and other water resource structures.
- Article 40 prohibits excavation to emit or enlarge hot spring openings without prior permit.
- Article 40 requires a permit from the Department of Health before developing a hot spring for human consumption.
- Article 41 prohibits development of a stream, lake, or spring for recreational purposes without a permit from the Council.
- Article 42 prohibits inducing or restraining rainfall by methods such as cloud seeding without a permit from the proper government emergency, unless ordered by the President and only in time of national calamity or emergency.
- Article 43 prohibits raising/lowering water levels of rivers, streams, lakes, lagoons, or marshes, or draining them, without a permit.
- Article 44 requires drainage systems’ outlets to be rivers, lakes, the sea, natural bodies of water, or other watercourse approved by the proper government agency.
- Article 45 requires persons constructing a drainage channel for common benefit to bear construction and maintenance cost in proportion to benefits derived.
- Article 46 requires owners of higher land using artificial drainage to select routes/methods causing minimum damage to lower lands, subject to just compensation.
- Article 47 requires the person responsible for damage resulting from use/conveyance/storage of waters to pay compensation.
- Article 48 requires the project constructor/operator to bear costs of bridges/flumes and other structures necessary for access/irrigation/drainage, in addition to paying compensation for land and incidental damages when projects interfere with access or irrigation/drainage water conveyance.
- Article 49 allows an easement holder for an aqueduct to enter servient land to clean, repair, replace aqueduct, or remove obstructions.
- Article 50 establishes natural flow obligations between estates: lower estates must receive waters flowing naturally from higher estates (including stone/earth carried), and neither estate may create works that impede/increase natural flow without providing proper alternative drainage methods and subject to the higher/lower obligations.
- Article 51 imposes an easement of public use along river/stream banks and sea/lake shores within a zone:
- Three (3) meters in urban areas,
- Twenty (20) meters in agricultural areas, and
- Forty (40) meters in forest areas,
and prohibits staying longer than necessary for recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing, or salvage, and prohibits building structures of any kind.
- Article 52 directs that easements of water not expressly determined by the Code are governed by the Civil Code.
Flood control and navigability; river/stream changes
- Article 53 authorizes the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications to declare flood control areas and promulgate guidelines for flood plain management plans.
- Article 54 allows rules in declared flood control areas to prohibit or control activities damaging or deteriorating lakes/dikes, obstructing flow, changing natural river flow, increasing flood losses, or aggravating flood problems.
- Article 55 authorizes government to construct flood control structures and grants it a legal easement as wide as needed along and adjacent to river banks outside the river’s bed/channel.
- Article 56 prohibits cultivation of river beds, sand bars, and tidal flats except with prior permission from the Secretary of the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communication, and prohibits permission when cultivation obstructs water flow or increases flood levels causing damage to other areas.
- Article 57 allows erection of levees or revetments to protect property from flood/encroachment/changes in river course, provided no damage to another’s property results.
- Article 58 provides that when a river/stream suddenly changes course traversing private lands, owners cannot compel restoration or restrain government from reverting to the former course, and owners are not entitled to compensation for damage from the change; ownership of the former/new beds is allocated proportionally based on area lost.
- Article 58 allows affected landowners to return the river/stream to the old bed at their own expense, subject to a permit from the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications and commencement of work within two years from the change.
- Article 59 allows rivers, lakes, and lagoons to be declared navigable, in whole or in part, upon recommendation of the Philippine Coast Guard.
- Article 60 allows control or prohibition of rafting of logs and other objects during designated seasons, considering irrigation/domestic water needs and other uses.
Conservation, watersheds, and pollution prevention
- Article 61 provides that the Council may prohibit impounding of water in ponds/reservoirs upon consultation with the Department of Health if dangerous to public health, or order draining when necessary for public health protection.
- Article 62 authorizes storage of stream water in a reservoir by a permittee in an amount that does not prejudice downstream permittees’ rights, and requires reservoir operators, when required, to release water for minimum stream flow; all reservoir operations are subject to Council or proper agency rules.
- Article 63 authorizes requiring the dam operator to employ an engineer with qualifications prescribed for proper operations, maintenance, and administration of the dam.
- Article 64 requires Council approval for manner/location/depth/spacing of borings, requirements for registration of every boring or alteration, and other control measures for groundwater exploitation, in coordination with the Professional Regulation Commission for drillers’ qualifications; it prohibits drilling of wells without prior permission from the Council.
- Article 65 prohibits transferring water from one river basin to another without Council approval; it requires Council consideration of transfer costs, benefits to the origin basin, benefits to the receiving basin, alternative supply schemes, and other relevant factors.
- Article 66 authorizes the Council, after due notice and hearing when warranted, to establish minimum stream flows and minimum lake water levels for environmental protection, pollution control, navigation, prevention of salt damage, and general public use.
- Article 67 authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to declare watersheds or land adjacent to surface water or overlying ground water as protected areas, and to promulgate rules to prohibit/control activities damaging water or interfering with investigation/use/control/protection/management.
- Article 68 imposes on persons in control of a well duties to prevent water from flowing on the surface or into surface water or porous stratum without beneficial use.
- Article 69 imposes duties for wells containing minerals or injurious substances to prevent their flow to surface land/water and any other aquifer/porous stratum.
- Article 70 prohibits use of an existing well or pond or spreading waters for recharge of subterranean/ground water supplies without prior Council permission.
- Article 71 encourages merging irrigation associations and appropriations by associations instead of individuals, and prohibits granting a water permit to an individual when his requirement can be supplied through an irrigation association.
- Article 72 requires ecological change considerations in proposed water resource projects to balance development needs and environmental protection.
- Article 73 requires conservation of fish and wildlife to receive proper consideration and to be coordinated with other water resources development program features so fish/wildlife values receive equal attention.
- Article 74 reserves and protects State-owned swamps and marshes with primary value for waterfowl propagation or other wildlife purposes from drainage operation and development.
- Article 75 prohibits, without prior permission from the National Pollution Control Commission, construction of works producing dangerous or noxious substances or acts that introduce sewage, industrial waste, or pollutants into any source of water supply; it defines water pollution as impairment beyond a certain standard set by the National Pollution Control Commission, varying by water use.
- Article 76 subjects cemeteries and waste disposal areas affecting water supply sources or domestic/municipal reservoirs to Department of Health rules and regulations.
- Article 77 prohibits dumping mining tailings and sediments from placer mining into rivers/waterways without prior Council permission upon recommendation of the National Pollution Control Commission.
- Article 78 authorizes the National Pollution Control Commission to prohibit or regulate application of agricultural fertilizers and pesticides where application may cause pollution of a source of water supply.
Administration, enforcement, jurisdiction, and procedures
- Article 79 vests administration and enforcement of the Code, including granting permits and imposing penalties for administrative violations, in the Council, except functions specifically conferred on other agencies.
- Article 80 authorizes the Council to deputize any government official or agency to perform specific Council functions or activities.
- Article 81 requires the Council to provide a continuing program for data collection, research, and manpower development for appropriation, utilization, exploitation, conservation, and protection of water resources.
- Article 82 requires the Council to promulgate necessary rules and regulations that may provide penalties consisting of a fine not exceeding One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) and/or suspension or revocation of water permit/other right to use water.
- Article 82 authorizes administrative dealing with violations of such rules and regulations by the Council.
- Article 82 requires Council approval as a condition, when the Council so requires, for rules and regulations by any government agency that pertain to water resources utilization, exploitation, development, control, conservation, or protection.
- Article 83 authorizes the Council to impose and collect reasonable fees or charges for water resources development from water appropriators, except when for purely domestic purposes.
- Article 84 empowers the Council and authorized agencies to enter private lands with prior notice to conduct surveys and hydrologic investigations and to perform other necessary acts, including exercise of eminent domain.
- Article 85 prohibits undertaking any program/project involving appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development, control, conservation, or protection of water resources without prior Council approval, except projects the Council may exempt in its discretion; it authorizes the Council to require public consultation for certain projects.
- Article 86 requires review by the proper government agency of plans/specifications submitted for hydraulic structures, with recommendations to the Council, and requires the Council to approve only when in conformity with the Code and Council rules.
- Article 86 preserves liability for damages: neither the engineer who drew plans nor the constructor who built the structure is relieved of liability for defects, within ten (10) years from completion; actions to recover damages must be brought within five (5) years following such failure.
- Article 87 empowers the Council and duly authorized representatives, in investigations and decisions, to administer oaths, compel attendance by subpoena, and require production of relevant documents by subpoena duces tecum; non-compliance is punished as indirect contempt of an inferior court through the proper Court of First Instance under Rule 71 of the Rules of Court.
- Article 88 grants the Council original jurisdiction over all disputes relating to appropriation, utilization, exploitation, development, control, conservation, and protection of waters within the Code’s meaning.
- Article 88 provides that Council decisions on water rights controversies are immediately executory; enforcement may be suspended only by filing a bond fixed by the Council to answer for damages caused by suspension/stay of execution, unless suspension is by order of a competent court.
- Article 88 requires that all disputes be decided within sixty (60) days after submission for decision/resolution.
- Article 89 allows appeal of Council decisions to the Court of First Instance of the province where the subject matter is situated within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the decision on grounds of grave abuse of discretion, question of law, or questions of fact and law.
Administrative permits: jurisdictional controls on projects
- Article 85 requires prior Council approval for water resource programs/projects, except exempted projects.
- Article 88 provides that Council decisions enforceable after issuance guide resolution of water rights disputes.
- Article 79 vests permit granting and administrative penalty imposition in the Council subject to functions specifically conferred on other agencies.
Criminal and administrative penalties; prescription
- Article 90 imposes, in the Council’s discretion, suspension or revocation of the violator’s water permit or other right to use water and/or a fine not exceeding One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) for acts enumerated in paragraphs (a) to (n), including:
- Appropriation of subterranean/ground water for domestic use by an overlying landowner without registration required by the Council,
- Non-observance of beneficial use standards,
- Failure to keep withdrawal records when required,
- Failure to comply with permit/grant terms and conditions,
- Unauthorized use for a different purpose,
- Construction/repair of hydraulic work without duly approved plans and specifications when required,
- Failure to install regulating and measuring devices when required,
- Unauthorized sale/lease/transfer of water or water rights,
- Failure to provide disease-prevention/control facilities when required,
- Drilling of a well without Council permission,
- Utilization of an existing well/pond/spreading waters for groundwater recharge without Council permission,
- Violation of Council orders/rules/regulations,
- Illegal taking/diversion of water in an open canal/aqueduct/reservoir,
- Malicious destruction of hydraulic works or structures valued at not exceeding P5,000.00.
- Article 91 imposes court penalties for offenses depending on the act:
- Article 91(A): a fine not exceeding Three Thousand Pesos (P3,000.00) or imprisonment not more than three (3) years, or both, for acts including appropriation of water without a permit (unless expressly exempt), unauthorized obstruction of an irrigation canal, cultivation of a river bed/sand bar/tidal flat without permission, and malicious destruction of hydraulic works or structure valued at not exceeding Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00).
- Article 91(B): a fine exceeding P3,000.00 but not more than P6,000.00 or imprisonment exceeding three (3) years but not more than six (6) years, or both, for acts including distribution for public consumption of water adversely affecting health/safety, excavation/enlargement of hot spring opening without permission, unauthorized obstruction of river/waterway or occupancy of river bank/seashore without permission, establishment of a cemetery or waste disposal area near a domestic/municipal water supply/reservoir without permission, constructing works producing dangerous/no xious substances or polluting acts without prior permission, and dumping mine tailings/sediments into rivers/waterways without permission; it also covers malicious destruction of hydraulic works/structures valued more than P25,000.00 but not exceeding P100,000.00.
- Article 91(C): a fine exceeding P6,000.00 but not more than P10,000.00 or imprisonment exceeding six (6) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or both, for acts including misrepresentation of citizenship to qualify for a water permit and malicious destruction of hydraulic works/structures valued more than P100,000.00.
- Article 92 provides corporate/officer