JUST AS it is hard to believe that very strong floods could be caused by a strong typhoon with heavy rainfall like Carina, you may find it hard to believe that the lack of rainfall could cause droughts and water shortages that could result in a natural disaster.

Since we could no longer freely pump ground water and since it is still very costly to convert sea water into fresh water by way of desalination, the government should really become more strict in enforcing water conservation measures, and we can start that by limiting the delivery of service water to restaurant costumers.

I understand that it is customary for restaurants to their customers, but why serve them water if they are not even asking for it?

For that matter, why serve all the customers water when only one of them is asking for it?

You might say that this is a trivial matter that is not even worth writing about, but what if I tell you that the threat of a water shortage in Metro Manila is really very real because our sources of fresh drinkable water is not as inexhaustible as it used to?
What if I tell you that many metropolitan areas all over the world are already experiencing water shortages, even without droughts?

Of course, water conservation is only one of the solutions that could prevent a water shortage. But the truth is, every little drop counts when there is already a water shortage, so why not make every little drop counts when we are still conserving water to prevent a shortage?

Admittedly, water conservation is only an artificial means of saving water, but should we not employ all artificial means since we have no way of controlling the natural means of having more water?

Finally, here is my message to the government: After allowing our technocrats and engineers to find solutions to our problem of water shortages, why not allow our scientists and inventors to find other solutions?

This is a serious problem that requires not only science driven solutions but also innovation driven solutions.

If the government does not know who these scientists and inventors are, I can bring them quicker than a flashflood.IMT