Water Code of

the Philippines

What law instituted the Water

Code of the Philippines?
Presidential Decree No.
1067

Objectives:
a. To established the basic principles and
framework relating to the appropriation,
control and conservation of water
resources to achieve the optimum
development and rational utilization of
these resources;
b. To define the extent of the rights and
obligations of water users and owners
including the protection and regulation of
such rights;

c. To adopt a basic law governing

the ownership, appropriation,
utilization, exploitation,
development, conservation and
protection of water resources and
rights to land related thereto; and
d. To identify the administrative
agencies which will enforce this
Code.

What are the underlying principles of the

Code?
a.

b.
c.
d.

e.

All waters belong to the State

All waters that belong to the State can not be
the subject to acquisitive prescription.
The State may allow the use or development
of waters by administrative concession,
The utilization, exploitation, development,
conservation and protection of water
resources shall be subject to the control and
regulation of the government trough the
National Water Resources Council.
Preference in the use and development of
waters shall consider current usages and be
responsive to the changing needs of the
country.

What is the meaning of Appropriation

of Water?
It is the acquisition of rights over the
use of waters or the taking or diverting
of waters from a natural source in the
manner and for any purpose allowed
by law.

Water may be appropriated for the

following purposes:
a.

b.
c.
d.
e.

Domestic for drinking, washing, bathing,

cooking or other household needs, home
gardens, and watering of lawns or
domestic animals.
Municipal for supplying the water
requirements of the community
Irrigation for producing agricultural crops
Power generation for producing electrical
or mechanical power
Fisheries for the propagation and culture
of fish as a commercial enterprise

f. Livestock raising for large herds or

flocks of
animals raised as a
commercial enterprise
g. Industrial utilization of water in
factories,
industrial plants and mines,
including the
use of water as an
ingredient of a finished
product
h.Recreational for swimming pools, bath
houses, boating, water skiing, golf courses
and other similar facilities in resorts and
other places of recreation; and
i.Other purposes

Water right is a privilege to appropriate

and use water.
As a rule, no person, including government
instrumentalities or government owned or
controlled corporations, shall appropriate
water without a water right, which shall be
evidenced by a document known as a
water permit.

Exception from securing

water permit:
a.
b.

Appropriation of water by means

of handcarried receptacles; and
Bathing or washing, watering or
dipping of domestic or farm
animals, and navigation of
watercrafts or transportation of
logs and other objects by flotation

Right of a water permittee to

demand establishment of
Article 25. A holder of a water permit may demand
easement
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, mortgage or one
having real right over the land
upon which he purposes to use water; and
b. That the proposed easement is the most
convenient and the least onerous to the servient
estate.

Lower estates have the

obligation to receive the water
which naturally flow from the
higher estates.
Article 50 of PD No. 1067 provides:
Lower estates are obliged to receive the waters which
naturally and without the intervention of man flow from the
higher estate, as well as the stone or earth which they carry
with them.
The owner of the lower estate can not construct works
which will impede this natural flow, unless he provides an
alternative method of drainage; neither can the owner of the
higher estate make works which will increase this natural
flow.

Case: Remman Enterprises v. Court of

Appeals

Facts:
The

land of Lat - agricultural and planted

mostly with fruit trees
The land of REMMAN - devoted to its piggery
business
REMMANs land is higher in elevation
compared to Lat.
Lat complained that REMMANs waste disposal
lagoon was already overflowing; the trees
growing on the flooded portion started to
wither and die. He filed a complaint for
damages.
REMMAN contended that heavy rains caused
the overflooding and the law imposes a natural
easement on the owner of the lower estate

Is REMMAN liable for damages?

The

court held that even assuming that

the heavy rains constituted an act of
God, by reason of REMMANs negligence,
the fortuitous event became humanized,
rendering it liable for the ensuing
damages. It further ruled that REMMANs
property was practically made a catch
basin of polluted water and other
noxious substances emptying from its
piggery, and any damage occasioned
thereby entitles the owner of the lower
or servient estate to compensation.

a.

b.

c.
d.

Control of
Waters against activities that
Prohibition

obstruct the flow of water. DPWH may

declare flood control areas
Rivers or lakes may be declared
navigable. (Art.59 rivers, lakes and
lagoons may, upon the recommendation of
the Philippine Coast Guard, be declared
navigable either in whole or in part.)
River beds may not be cultivated (except
prior permission from the Secretary, DPWH)
Erection of levees (to protect property
from flood; construction does not cause
damage to anothers property)

e.

f.
g.

h.

Change of course of rivers (private owner

may not compel the government to restore the
river to its former bed)
Reservoirs (whoever operates shall release
water for minimum stream flow)
Drilling for subterranean or ground water
(No person shall drill a well without prior
permission from the Council)
Easement of aqueduct (Any person who may
wish to use upon his own estate any water of
which he can dispose shall have the right to
make it flow through the intervening estate,
with the obligation to indemnify their owners,
as well as the owners of the lower estates upon
which the waters may filter or descend.)

Conservation and protection of waters and watersheds

and related land resources
a.

Watersheds may be declared a protected

area
In Sta. Rosa Realty Development Corporation v.
Court of Appeals, the court held that the
disputed parcels of land in Sta. Rosa Realty form
vital part of an area that need to be protected
for watershed purposes. Clearing and tilling of
the lands are totally inconsistent with sound
watershed management.

b.

A watershed reservation is not subject to

occupancy or alienation.
The case of Collado v. Court of Appeals reiterates
the principle that a watershed reservation is not
susceptible of occupancy, disposition,
conveyance or alienation.

c.

A timber license covering a watershed area

may be withdrawn in the public interest
In the case of Tan v. Director of Forestry, the
court declared that watersheds serve as a
defense against soil erosion and guarantee the
steady supply of water.

The National Water Resources Council

NWRC was created by PD No. 424. As a

regulatory
and
executor
agency,
it
coordinates and integrates water resources
development
activities,
and
grants,
determines and adjudicates water rights. It
is
also
responsible
for
formulating
framework plans for water supply, and
promulgating rules and regulations for the
exploitation and optimum utilization of water
resources, including the imposition on water
appropriators of such fees or charges as may
be deemed necessary for water resources

Authority to enter upon private lands

The Council and other agencies authorized to

enforce the Code are empowered to enter upon
private lands, with previous notice to the owner, for
the purpose of conducting surveys and hydrologic
investigations, and to perform such other acts as
are necessary in carrying out their functions
including the power to exercise the right of eminent
domain.

Jurisdiction of the Council over water disputes

Pertinent provisions of PD No. 1067 (Water Code)

provide:

Art. 88. The Council shall have original

jurisdiction over all disputes relating to appropriation,
utilization,
exploitation,
development,
control,
conservation and protection of waters within the
meaning and context of the provision of this Code.

The decision of the Council on water rights

controversies shall be immediately executory and the
enforcement thereof may be suspended only when a
bond, in an amount fixed by the Council to answer for
damages occasioned by the suspension or stay of
execution, shall have been filed by the appealing
party, unless the suspension is by virtue of an order

All disputes shall be decided within sixty (60)

days after the parties submit the same for decision or
resolution.

The Council shall have the power to issue writs

of execution and enforce its decision with the
assistance of local or national police agencies.

Art. 89 The decision of the Council on water

rights controversies may be appealed to the Regional
Trial Court of the province where the subject matter of
the controversy is situated within fifteen (15) days
from the date the party appealing receives a copy of
the decision, on any of the following grounds: (1)
grave abuse of discretion; (2) question of law; and (3)
question of fact and law.

Regular courts have jurisdiction where the

issue involves the enjoyment of an
existing right to use water

Where the case does not involve the

settlement of a water rights disputes, but the
enjoyment of a right to water use for which a
permit was already granted, the regular court
has jurisdiction over the dispute, not the
National Water Resources Council.

Rule on exhaustion of administrative

remedies

The issue in the case of Abe-Abe v. Manta is

whether the CFI of Camaguin has jurisdiction to
adjudicate a dispute over water rights for irrigation
purposes even if the controversy had not yet been
passed upon by the National Water Resources
Council. The Court held that the petitioners
immediate recourse is to ventilate their grievances
first with the Council which is the administrative
agency exclusively vested with original jurisdiction
to settle water rights disputes under the Water
Code, consistent with the rule on exhaustion of
administrative remedies.

But in Metro Iloilo Water District v. CA, it was

held that since the petitions focus on the
violations incurred by private respondents by
virtue of their alleged unauthorized extraction and
withdrawal of ground water within petitioners
service area vis--vis petitioners vested rights as
a water district, it is at once obvious that the
petitions raise a judicial question, hence, the rule
on exhaustion of administrative remedies does not
apply.

Appeals taken to the Court of Appeals

Sec. 9(1) of BP Blg. 129 granted the Court

of Appeals original jurisdiction to issue writs of
mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, habeas
corpus and quo warranto, and auxiliary writs or
processes, whether or not in aid of its appellate
jurisdiction.

Penalties

Art. 90 and 91 of the Water Code enumerate

the acts that may be penalized under the Code.

Water Districts
It was created by PD No. 198, otherwise
known as the Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973
as amended by PD No. 768 and PD No. 1479.
xxx.. water districts derive their legal
existence and power from PD No. 198. Sec. 6 of the
decree in fact provides that water district shall
exercise the powers, rights and privileges given to
private corporations under existing laws, in addition
to the powers granted in, and subject to such
restrictions imposed under this Act.

Functions:
To sell water to residents within their
territory, under such schedules of rates and
charges as may be determined by their boards.
They shall manage, administer, operate and
maintain all watersheds within their territorial
boundaries, safeguard and protect the use of the
waters therein, supervise and control structures
within their service areas, and prohibit any person
from selling or otherwise disposing of water for
public purposes within their service areas where
district facilities are available to provide such
service.

Dissolution of water districts

Sec. 45 of PD No. 198, as amended by PD No.
768, states:
Sec. 45. Dissolution. A district may be
dissolved by resolution of its board of directors
filed in the manner of filing the resolution forming
the district: Provided, however, That prior to the
adoption of any such resolution: (1) another
public entity has acquired the assets of the
district and has assumed all obligations and
liabilities attached thereto; (2) all bondholders
and other creditors have been notified and they
consent to said transfer and dissolution; and (3)
the court has found that said transfer and
dissolution are in the best interest of the public.

The Local Water Utilities Administration

(LWUA)
Powers and functions:
Specific powers and duties:
(1) Prescribe minimum standards and regulations
in order to assure acceptable standards of
construction materials and supplies, maintenance,
operation, personnel training, accounting and
fiscal practices for local water utilities;
(2) Furnish technical assistance and personnel
training programs for local water utilities;
(3) Monitor and evaluate local water standards;
and
(4) Effect systems integration, joint investment

The LWUA has no adjudicatory functions

The LWUA has quasi-judicial power only as
regards rates or charges fixed by water districts,
which it may review to establish compliance with
the provisions of PD No. 198, without prejudice to
appeal being taken therefrom by a water
concessionaire to the National Water Resources
Council whose decision thereon shall be
appealable to the Office of the President.

The SEC has no supervisory powers over

water districts
It was held in the case of Marilao Water
Consumers Association, Inc. v. Intermediate
Appellate Court, that although water districts
created by PD No. 198 are considered as quasipublic corporations and authorized to exercise
the powers, rights and privileges given to private
corporations under existing laws, they are
entirely distinct from corporations organized
under the Corporation Code, PD No. 902-A, as
amended.