Layawan River, Polanco, Zamboanga Del Norte, Philippines: Resource utilization, environmental issues and water quality
Paper Details
Layawan River, Polanco, Zamboanga Del Norte, Philippines: Resource utilization, environmental issues and water quality
Abstract
The Layawan River is a vital freshwater ecosystem in Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. The Integrated Watershed Management Plan of Layawan River targets to establish conservation and protection efforts. However, information crucial for its management and conservation remains scarce. This study assessed the resource utilization, environmental issues and water quality along the lower reaches of Lawayan River in Polanco. The river supports subsistence fisheries and sand-gravel quarry industry and provides water for agricultural (irrigation) and domestic (cleaning, washing clothes, and bathing) use. Along with its contribution to the community lies the associated threats it faces. It is mainly threatened by unregulated disposal of garbage, sand and gravel quarry, and open defecation. While majority of the water quality parameters passed the national standard, concerns arise with its high phosphates, total suspended solids (TSS) and total coliform counts. Phosphates readings from 0.099 to 0.144 mg/L failed the 0.025 mg/L threshold, indicating excessive nutrients. TSS values reached up to 109 mg/L, exceeding the 50 mg/L limit. Total coliform counts ranging from 3,700 to 35,000 MPN/100 mL are appalling, indicating potentially extreme fecal contamination and posing health risk to the public. Efforts for sustainable management of Layawan River should focus on strict implementation and enforcement of environmental laws (e.g., R.A. 9275 Clean Water Act; R.A. 9003 Ecological Solid Waste Management), monitoring of water quality, IEC campaigns to raise the level of awareness and participation of the community, reforestation of riparian zones, and mitigation measures to address the potential health risk to the public.
Abbas AF, Aylan RA. 2020. Effect of electrofishing on some fish species in Qarmat Ali River and East Hammar marsh, Basrah, Iraq. MARSH BULLETIN 15(2), 117–126.
Albert JS, Destouni G, Duke-Sylvester SM, Magurran AE, Oberdorff T, Reis RE, Winemiller KO, Ripple WJ. 2020. Scientists’ warning to humanity on the freshwater biodiversity crisis. Ambio 50(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-020-01318-8
Basak SM, Hossain MS, Tusznio J, Grodzińska-Jurczak M. 2021. Social benefits of river restoration from an ecosystem services perspective: A systematic review. Environmental Science and Policy 124, 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.06.005
Bohnet IC. 2025. Lessons learned from public participation in water quality improvement planning: A study from Australia. Society and Natural Resources 28(2), 180–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2014.941446
Boyle R. 2023. How does deforestation speed up the process of soil erosion? www.emission-index.com. https://www.emission-index.com/deforestation/soil-erosion
Carneiro M, Martins R. 2022. Destructive fishing practices and their impact on the marine ecosystem. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 295–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98536-7_10
Cuivillas DA, Naguit MR, Cuivillas A. 2016. Physico-chemical characterization of Layawan River. IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology 10(6), 69–75. https://doi.org/10.9790/2402-1006026975
Darwall W, Bremerich V, De Wever A, Dell AI, Freyhof J, Gessner MO, Grossart H-P, Harrison I, Irvine K, Jähnig SC, Jeschke JM, Lee JJ, Lu C, Lewandowska AM, Monaghan MT, Nejstgaard JC, Patricio H, Schmidt-Kloiber A, Stuart SN, Thieme M. 2018. The Alliance for Freshwater Life: A global call to unite efforts for freshwater biodiversity science and conservation. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 28(4), 1015–1022. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2958
Department of Economic and Social Affairs. n.d. Thriving and resilient rivers for future generations – Addressing the global water challenges. United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/thriving-and-resilient-rivers-future-generations-addressing-global-water-challenges
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). 2016. Water quality guidelines and general effluent standards of 2016 (DAO 2016-08). Philippines: DENR.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). 2019. Updated water quality guidelines (WQG) and general effluent standards (GES) for selected parameters (DAO 2021-19). Philippines: DENR.
EMB-IX. State of Water – EMB.
Escatron MJ, Villamor V, et al. 2022. Water quality assessment of Surigao River, Surigao City, Philippines. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 10(5A), 38–45. https://doi.org/10.22271/j.ento.2022.v10.i5a.9038
Ferreira A, Figueiredo D, Cardeiras R, Nabais R, Ferreira F, Ribeiro B, Cordovil CMS, Acién FG, Gouveia L. 2022. Exploring different pretreatment methodologies for allowing microalgae growth in undiluted piggery wastewater. Agronomy 12(3), 580. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12030580
Grill G, Lehner B, Thieme M, Geenen B, Tickner D, Antonelli F, Babu S, Borrelli P, Cheng L, Crochetiere H, Ehalt Macedo H, Filgueiras R, Goichot M, Higgins J, Hogan Z, Lip B, McClain ME, Meng J, Mulligan M, Nilsson C. 2019. Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers. Nature 569(7755), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9
Magbanua FS, Hilario JE, Salluta JCRB, Alpecho BC, Mendoza SS, Lit IL. 2023. Freshwater biomonitoring with macroinvertebrates in the Philippines: Towards the development of the Philippine biotic index. Limnologica 102, 126098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2023.126098
Municipality of Polanco. n.d. Integrated Watershed Management Plan of Layawan River. Local Government Unit of Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines.
Sayer CA, Fernando E, Jimenez RR. 2025. One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction. Nature 638, 138–145. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08375-z
Stefanidis K, Papastergiadou E. 2024. Ecological monitoring and assessment of freshwater ecosystems: New trends and future challenges. Water 16(11), 1460–1460. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16111460
World Meteorological Organization. 2023. State of Global Water Resources 2022. https://wmo.int/publication-series/state-of-global-water-resources-2022
Wu A-P, Ye S-Y, Wang Y-H, Cao T, Liu L, Zhong W, Qi L-Y, Deng Q-Y, Hu C-T. 2021. Electrofishing is a potential threat to the growth and metabolism of three submerged macrophytes. Marine and Freshwater Research 72, 376–382.
Xie Y, Liu X, Wei H, Chen X, Gong N, Ahmad S, Lee T, Ismail S, Ni S-Q. 2022. Insight into impact of sewage discharge on microbial dynamics and pathogenicity in river ecosystem. Scientific Reports 12(1), 6894. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09579-x
Young RT, Boase JC, Buszkiewicz JT, Dean JC, McCarter JT. 2023. Field evaluation of electrofishing response thresholds for adult Grass Carp. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 43(3), 859–868. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10899
Princess Krishyll B. Andong, Christine Marie V. Casal, Wella T. Tatil, Armi G. Torres (2025), Layawan River, Polanco, Zamboanga Del Norte, Philippines: Resource utilization, environmental issues and water quality; JBES, V26, N5, May, P119-128
https://innspub.net/layawan-river-polanco-zamboanga-del-norte-philippines-resource-utilization-environmental-issues-and-water-quality/
Copyright © 2025
By Authors and International
Network for Natural Sciences
(INNSPUB) https://innspub.net
This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0