• Journal of Wetlands Research
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2018

Laguna Lake is the largest inland fresh water body in the Philippines. It primarily serves as a site for aquaculture, hydropower, transportation, and water supply industries. Due to Laguna Lake's diverse functionalities, competition among water users became prominent. Water quality began to deteriorate due to various pollutant contributions in this process, thereby affecting the soundness of the aquatic ecosystem. This study was conducted to evaluate the current water quality management policy from the viewpoint of ecological environment through the evaluation of the water quality of Laguna Lake. Concentrations of water pollutants such as ammonia ($NH_3$), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chloride ($Cl^-$), pH, and total suspended solids (TSS) exceeded the water quality standards of the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The water quality of the lake was also affected by the pollutant load due to agriculture and urban stormwater runoff in the watershed. The salinity and contaminated water from Pasig River also affected the water quality of Laguna Lake. Long-term water quality analysis showed that the water quality of Laguna Lake is also influenced by rainfall-related seasonal variations. The results of the water quality analysis of Laguna Lake indicated that the environmental management techniques of the Philippines should be changed from the conventional water management into an integrated watershed management scheme in the future. It is therefore necessary to study and introduce advanced watershed management measures in the Philippines based from the policies of other developed countries.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.667-669
• /
• 2003

A bio-optical model was developed specific for turbid and shallow waters. Special studies were carried out to estimate absorption and scattering properties as well as backscattering probability of suspended matter. The inversion of bio-optical model allows for direct retrieval of turbidity and chlorophyll- a from the visible-near infrared (VNIR) range sensor. Time-series satellite imagery from ASTER AM-1 sensor, were used to monitor the Laguna de Bay water quality condition. Spatial distribution of temperature for the lake was extracted from the thermal infrared (TIR) sensor. Corresponding field surveys were conducted to parameterize the bio -optical model. In-situ measurements include suspended particle and chlorophyll-a concentrations profiles from nephelometric devices and processing of water samples. Hyperspectral measurements were used to validate results of the bio -optical model and satellite- based estimation. This study provides a theoretical basis and a practical illustration of applying space- based measurements on an operational basis.