Article 31
ARTICLE 31. Preference in the development of water resources shall consider security of the State, multiple use, beneficial effects, adverse effects and costs of development.
PD 1067 CHAPTER IV
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Article 32
ARTICLE 32. The utilization of subterranean or ground water shall be coordinated with that of surface waters such as rivers, streams, springs and lakes, so that a superior right in one is not adversely affected by an inferior right in the other. For this purpose the Council shall promulgate rules and regulations and declare the existence of control areas for the coordinated development, protection, and utilization of subterranean or ground water and surface waters. Control area is an area of land where subterranean or ground water and surface water are so interrelated that withdrawal and use in one similarly affects the other. The boundary of a control area may be altered from time to time, as circumstances warrant.
Article 33
ARTICLE 33. Water contained in open canals, aqueducts or reservoirs of private persons may be used by any person for domestic purpose or for watering plants as long as the water is withdrawn by manual methods without checking the stream or damaging the canal, aqueduct or reservoir; Provided, That this right may be restricted by the owner should it result in loss or injury to him.
Article 34
ARTICLE 34. A water permittee or appropriator may use any watercourse to convey water to another point in the watercourse for the purpose stated in a permit and such water may be diverted or recaptured at that point by said permittee in the same amount less allowance for normal losses in transit.
Article 35
ARTICLE 35. Works for the storage, diversion, distribution and utilization of water resources shall contain adequate provision for the prevention and control of diseases that may be induced or spread by such works when required by the Council.
Article 36
ARTICLE 36. When the reuse of waste water is feasible, it shall be limited as much as possible, to such uses other than direct human consumption. No person or agency shall distribute such water for public consumption until it is demonstrated that such consumption will not adversely affect the health and safety of the public.
Article 37
ARTICLE 37. In the construction and operation of hydraulic works, due consideration shall be given to the preservation of scenic places and historical relics and, in addition to the provisions of existing laws, no works that would require the destruction or removal of such places or relics shall be undertaken without showing that the destruction or removal is necessary and unavoidable.
Article 38
ARTICLE 38. Authority for the construction of dams, bridges and other structures across of which may interfere with the flow of navigable or floatable waterways shall first be secured from the Department of Public Works, Transportation and Communications.
Article 39
ARTICLE 39. Except in cases of emergency to save life or property, the construction or repair of the following works shall be undertaken only after the plans and specifications therefor, as may be required by the Council, are approved by the proper government agency; dams for the diversion or storage of water; structures for the use of water power, installations for the utilization of subterranean or ground water and other structures for utilization of water resources.
Article 40
ARTICLE 40. No excavation for the purpose of emission of a hot spring or for the enlargement of the existing opening thereof shall be made without prior permit. Any person or agency who intends to develop a hot spring for human consumption must first obtain a permit from the Department of Health.
Article 41
ARTICLE 41. No person shall develop a stream, lake, or spring for recreational purposes without first securing a permit from the Council.
Article 42
ARTICLE 42. Unless otherwise ordered by the President of the Philippines and only in time of national calamity or emergency, no person shall induce or restrain rainfall by any method such as cloud seeding without a permit from the proper government emergency.
Article 43
ARTICLE 43. No person shall raise or lower the water level of a river stream, lake, lagoon or marsh nor drain the same without a permit.
Article 44
ARTICLE 44. Drainage systems shall be so constructed that their outlets are rivers, lakes, the sea, natural bodies of water, or such other water course as may be approved by the proper government agency.
Article 45
ARTICLE 45. When a drainage channel is constructed by a number of persons for their common benefit, the cost of construction and maintenance of the channel shall be borne by each in proportion to the benefits derived.
Article 46
ARTICLE 46. When artificial means are employed to drain water from higher to lower land, the owner of the higher land shall select the routes and methods of drainage that will cause the minimum damage to the lower lands, subject to the requirements of just compensation.
Article 47
ARTICLE 47. When the use, conveyance or storage of waters results in damage to another, the person responsible for the damage shall pay compensation.
Article 48
ARTICLE 48. When a water resources project interferes with the access of landowner to a portion of his property or with the conveyance of irrigation or drainage water, the person or agency constructing the project shall bear the cost of construction and maintenance of the bridges, flumes and other structures necessary for maintaining access, irrigation, or drainage, in addition to paying compensation for land and incidental damages.
Article 49
ARTICLE 49. Any person having an easement for an aqueduct may enter upon the servient land for the purpose of cleaning, repairing or replacing the aqueduct or the removal of obstructions therefrom.
Article 50
ARTICLE 50. Lower estates are obliged to receive the waters which naturally and without the intervention of man flow from the higher estates, 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.
Article 51
ARTICLE 51. The banks of rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout their entire length and within a zone of three (3) meters in urban areas, twenty (20) meters in agricultural areas and forty (40) meters in forest areas, along their margins, are subject to the easement of public use in the interest of recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage. No person shall be allowed to stay in this zone longer than what is necessary for recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing or salvage or to build structures of any kind.
Article 52
ARTICLE 52. The establishment, extent, form, and conditions of easements of water not expressly determined by the provisions of this Code shall be governed by the provisions of the Civil Code. CONTROL OF WATERS
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Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines — Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).