WATER CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Council, hereinafter referred to as the Council.
Presidential Decree No. 1067
A. PD No. 1067 December 31, 1976
- Instituted the Water Code of the Philippines,
revising and consolidating the laws governing
ownership, appropriation, utilization, exploitation,
development, conservation, and protection of
water resources.
Policy considerations
PD No. 1067 recognizes that water is vital to
national development and it has thus become
increasingly necessary for government to
determine actively in improving the management
of water resources based on rational concepts or
integrated and multi-purpose management which
must be sufficiently flexible to adequately meet
future developments.
Article 4. Waters, refers to water under the grounds, water
above the ground, water in the atmosphere and the waters
of the sea within the territorial jurisdiction of the
Philippines.
OBJECTIVES OF THE CODE:
(a) To establish 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.
Article 3. The underlying principles of this code are:
(a) All waters belong to the State.
(b) All waters that belong to the State can not be
the subject to acquisitive prescription.
(c) The State may allow the use or development of
waters by administrative concession.
(d) The utilization, exploitation, development,
conservation and protection of water resources
shall be subject to the control and regulation of the
government through the National Water Resources
(e) Preference in the use and development of
waters shall consider current usages and be
responsive to the changing needs of the country.
OWNERSHIP OF WATERS
Article 5. The following belong to the State:
(a) Rivers and their natural beds;
(b) Continuous or intermittent waters of springs
and brooks running in their natural beds and the
beds themselves;
(c) Natural lakes and lagoons;
(d) All other categories of surface waters such as
water flowing over lands, water from rainfall
whether natural, or artificial, and water from
agriculture runoff, seepage and drainage;
(e) Atmospheric water;
(f) Subterranean or ground waters; and,
(g) Seawater.
Article 6. The following waters found on private lands
belong to the State:
(a) Continuous or intermittent waters rising on
such lands;
(b) Lakes and lagoons naturally occuring on such
lands;
(c) Rain water falling on such lands;
(d) Subterranean or ground waters; and,
(e) Water in swamps and marshes.
The owner of the land where the water is found may use
the same for domestic purposes without securing a permit,
provided that such use shall be registered, when required
by the Council. The Council, however, may regulate such
when there is wastage, or in times of emergency.
Article 7. Subject to the provisions of this Code, any person
who captures or collects water by means of cisterns, tanks,
or pools shall have exclusive control over such water and
the right to dispose of the same.
Article 8. Water legally appropriated shall be subject to the
control of the appropriator from the moment it reaches the
appropriator's canal or aqueduct leading to the place where
the water will be used or stored and, thereafter, so long as
it is being beneficially used for the purposes for which it was
appropriated.
Qualification of Applicants for Permit/Authority Only the
following may file an application with the Board for
permit/authority:
a) Citizens of the Philippines;
b) Associations, duly registered cooperatives or
corporations organized under the laws of the
Philippines, at least 60 percent of the capital of
which is owned by citizens of the
Philippines;
c) Government entities and instrumentalities,
including government-owned and controlled
corporations
B. APPROPRIATION OF WATERS
Article 9. Waters may be appropriated and used in
accordance with the provisions of this Code.
Appropriation of water - 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.
- Use of water for domestic purposes is the
utilization of water for drinking, washing, bathing,
cooking or other household needs, home gardens,
and watering of lawns or domestic animals.
- Use of water for municipal purposes is the
utilization of water for supplying the water
requirements of the community.
- Use of water for irrigation is the utilization of
water for producing agricultural crops.
- Use of water for power generation is the
utilization of water for producing electrical or
mechanical power.
- Use of water for fisheries is the utilization of water
for the propagation and culture of fish as a
commercial enterprise.
- Use of water for livestock raising is the utilization
of water for large herds or flocks of animals raised
as a commercial enterprise.
- Use of water for industrial purposes is the
utilization of water in factories, industrial plants
and mines, including the use of water as an
ingredient of a finished product.
- Use of water for recreational purposes is the
utilization of water for swimming pools, bath
houses, boating, water skiing, golf courses and
other similar facilities in resorts and other places of
recreation.
WATER RIGHTS AND PERMITS
I. WATER RIGHT IS THE PRIVILEGE GRANTED BY THE
GOVERNMENT TO APPROPRIATE AND USE
WATER.
Article 13, PD No. 1067. Except as otherwise herein
provided, 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.
However, any person, may appropriate or use
natural bodies of water without securing a water permit any
of the following:
(a) Appropriation of water by means of hand-
carried receptacles; and
(b) Bathing or washing, watering or dipping of
domestic or farm animals, and navigation of
watercrafts or transportation of logs and other
objects by flotation.
II. RIGHT OF A WATER PERMITTEE TO DEMAND
ESTABLISHMENT OF EASEMENTS.
A holder of water permit may demand 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, mortgagee or one
having real right over the land upon which he
proposes to use water; and
(b) That the proposed easement is the most
convenient and the least onerous to the servient
estate.
III. REVOCATION OF WATER PERMITS.
Any permit issued pursuant to these rules may be
revoked by the Council, after due notice and hearing, for any
of the grounds provided herein or in the Code.
Grounds for the revocation of water permit are the
following:
a) grounds of non-use; (At any time after
completion of diversion works and
necessary structures, nonuse of the water
for the purpose stipulated in the permit
for a period of three consecutive years
shall render said permit null and void,
 except as the Council may otherwise allow
for reasons beyond the control of the
permittee.)
b) gross violation of the conditions imposed
in the permit; unauthorized sale of water;
c) willful failure or refusal to comply with
rules and regulations of any lawful order;
d) pollution, public nuisance or acts
detrimental to public health and safety;
e) when the appropriator is found to be
disqualified under the law to exploit and
develop natural resources of the
Philippines;
f) when, in the case, of irrigation, the land is
converted to non-agricultural purposes;
g) and other similar grounds.
UTILIZATION, ORDER OF PREFERENCE AND
CONDITIONS FOR THE USE OF WATERS
IV. ORDER OF PREFERENCE IN THE USE OF
WATERS.
Article 95, PD. No. 1067. Within two (2) years from
the promulgation of this Code, all claims for a right to use
water existing on or before December 31, 1974 shall be
registered with the Council which shall confirm said rights in
accordance with the provisions of this Code, and shall set
their respective priorities.
When priority in time of appropriation from a
certain source of supply cannot be determined, the order of
preference in the use of the waters shall be as follows:
a) Domestic and municipal use
b) Irrigation
c) Power generation
d) Fisheries
e) Livestock raising
f) Industrial use, and
g) Other uses.
V. UTILIZATION OF WATERS.
Article 31, PD. No. 1067. Preference in the development of
water resources shall consider security of the State, multiple
use, beneficial effects, adverse effects and costs of
development.
Article 32, PD. No. 1067. 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 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.
VI. PROHIBITIONS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE OF
WATERS.
a) 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.
b) No person shall develop stream, lake, or spring
for recreational purposes without first securing a
permit from the Council.
c) Unless otherwise ordered by the President, 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 agency.
d) No person shall raise or lower the water level of
a river stream, lake, lagoon, or marsh nor drain
the same without a permit.
e) 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.
f) 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.
g) When the use, conveyance or storage of waters
results in damage to another, the person
responsible for the damage shall pay
compensation.
h) 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.
i) 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 cannot 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.
 j) 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.
VII. EASEMENTS.
An easement is an encumbrance imposed
upon an immovable for the benefit of another immovable
belonging to a different owner.
a. Legal easements relating to waters under the
Civil Code.
The following are provisions of the Civil Code on
Legal easements relating to waters:
1. Natural drainage of lands (Art. 637)
2. Natural Drainage of buildings (Art. 674)
3. Easements on riparian banks for navigation,
floatage, fishing and salvage (Art. 638)
4. Easement of a dam (Arts. 639, 647)
5. Easement for drawing water or for watering
animals (Arts. 640, 641)
6. Easement of aqueduct (Arts. 643-646)
7. Easement for the construction of a stop lock
or sluice gate (Art. 647)
b. Lower estates have the obligation to receive
the water which naturally flow from the higher
estates.
Article 50, PD. No. 1067. 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 cannot 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.
c. Easement of public use.
Article 51, PD. No. 1067. The banks of rivers
and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes
throughout their entire length and within a zone of --
--
1. three (3) meters in urban areas,
2. twenty (20) meters in agricultural areas and
3. 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.
E. Control of Waters
15. Flood control areas:
a. Prohibition against activities that obstruct the flows
of water, etc. -- Sec. Of DPWH may promulgate
guidelines and declare flood control areas.
b. Rivers or lakes ma be declared navigable. -- By
recommendation of the Coast Guard, may declare such
(Art.59 of water code, Lovina vs Moreno)
c. River beds may not be cultivated Permit to the Sec
of DPWH(not to obstruct the water flow).
d. Erection of levees any person may erect levees or
revetments to protect from flood and encroachment by
the river to his property, provided it cause no damage
to the property of another.
e. Change of course of rivers when a river or stream
suddenly changes its course to traverse private lands,
the owners may not compel nor restrain the
government to restore and revert the river to its
original course.
-- a permit should be secured frin DPWH
for any attempt to return the river to its
old bed which if granted should
commence within two years from the
change of the course of the river.
f. Reservoirs --- water may be stored in a reservoir by a
permittee in such amount as will not prejudice the right
of any permittee downstream.
g. Drilling for subterranean or ground water --- the
council shall approve the manner, location, depth, and
spacing in which borings of subterranean or ground
water may be made, determine the requirements for
the registration of every boring or alteration to existing
borings as well as other control measures for the
exploitation of subterranean or ground water
resources. No person shall drill a well without
permission from the council.
(Section 5_ Other Requirements. - In addition to the
requirements
under Section 4, the following are required in the specific
instances indicated:
A. For Well Drilling - Except when manual well drilling
will be employed, all applications involving extraction
of ground water shall include the name of a duly
licensed well driller who will undertake the drilling.
Except for manual wel"driling, no person shall engage
in the business of drilling wells for the purpose of
extracting ground water without first registering as a
well driller with the Council.)
h. 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 states, with the obligation to indemnify
their owners.
16. Conservation and protection of waters and watersheds
and related land resources.
After due notice and hearing, the National Water
Resources Council may establish minimum water
levels as may be necessary for the protection of
the environment, control the pollution, navigation,
prevention of salt damage, and general public use.
Conservation measures include the ff:
a. Watersheds, any area of lands adjacent to any surface
water or overlying any ground water.
b. Fish and wildlife
c. Swamps and marshes
d. Water supply (Permit from Environmental
Management Bureau EMB for any works that may
produce dangerous or noxious substances or perform
any act that may result to the introduction of sewage,
industrial waste, or any pollutant thereof)
e. Establishment of cemeteries and waste disposal areas
that may affect the water supply or reservoir shall be
subject to rules and regulations of the DOH
Tailings from mining operations and sediments shall not
be dumped into rivers and with permission with the
council as recommended by the EMB
a. Watersheds may be declared protected area ---
The protection of watershed ensures and adequate
supply of water for future generations and control
of flash floods that not only damage property but
also cause loss of lives.
Protection of watersheds is an
'intergenerational responsibility that
needs to be answered right now.
Article 67 of the water code provides that
any watershed or any area of land
adjacent to any surface water ot overlying
any ground water may be declared by the
DENR as a protected area.
b. A watershed reservation is not subject to occupancy or
alienation Sec 48(b) of CA No. 141 as amended, otherwise
known as Public Land Act excludes forest lands and
watersheds reservations from alienations.
C. Timber License covering watershed area may be
withdrawn in the public interest The Constitution
expressly mandates the conservation and proper
utilization of natural resources which include the country
watersheds. A timber license is not a contract; it is only a
license or privilege, which can be validly withdrawn
whenever dictated by public interests or public welfare.
F. The National Water Resources Council
17. Powers and functions The NWRC was created
by PD No. 424 as a regulatory and executory
agency that coordinates and integrated water
resources development activities, and grants,
determines and adjudicates water rights
--formulating frameworks plans for water supply
-- promulgating rules and regulations for the
exploitation and optimum utilization of water
resources including imposition of fees and charges
for water appropriators
-- administration and enforcement of the
provisions of the water code including the
granting of permits and the imposition of penalties
froth administrative violations thereof.
-- may deputize any official or agency of the government ro
perform any of its specific functions and activities
a. Authority to enter upon private lands
with the previous notice to the owner
of private lands, 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 to eminent domain, the council
and other agencies authorized to enforce the code are
empowered to enter upon private lands.
Jurisdiction of the Council over water disputes
 PD. 1067 (Water Code) provide:
"Art.88. The council shall have the original
Jurisdiction over all disputes relating to
appropriation, utilization, exploitation,
development, control, conservation and
protection of waters within the meaning
and context of the provisions of this code.
The decisions of the council on water
rights controversies shall be immediately
executory and the enforcement thereof
can only be suspended by virtue of an
order of a competent court.
All disputes shall be decided within 60 days after
the parties submit the same decision or resolution
Article 89. The decisions of the Council on water
rights controversies may be appealed to the RTC of
the province where the subject matter of the
controversy is submitted within 15 days from the
date the party appealling receives the copy of the
decision on any of the following grounds:
1 Grave abuse of discretion
2. Question of law
3. Question of fact and law
C. 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
water rights dispute, 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 NWRC.
Thus, when the suit clearly involves title to, and
possession of, real property, exclusive original
jurisdiction over which is conferred upon the RTC.
D. Rule on Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
The immediate recourse is to ventilate their
grievance first with the Council which is the
administrative agency exclusively vested with
original jurisdiction to settle water rights disputes
under the water code.
Exception is when petitions raise a judicial
question.
Appeal taken to the Court of Appeals
Rule 43 of the Rules of court granted the appellate court the
exclusive appellate jurisdiction over quasi-judicial agencies,
petitions for writs of certiorari, prohibitions or mandamus
against the acts and omissions of quasi-judicial agencies
should be file with it.
G. PENALTIES AND REPEALED LAWS
18. Penalties. The criminal action shall be brought to the
proper court.
Article 90. The following acts shall be penalized by
suspension or revocation of the violator's water permit or
other right to the use of water and/or a fine of not exceeding
One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00), in the discretion of the
Council:
(a) Appropriation of subterranean or ground water
for domestic use by an overlying landowner
without registration required by the Council.
(b) Non-observance of any standard of beneficial
use of water.
(c) Failure of the appropriator to keep a record of
water withdrawal, when required.
(d) Failure to comply with any of the terms or
conditions in a water permit or a water rights
grant.
(e) Unauthorized use of water for a purpose other
than that for which a right or permit was
granted.
(f) Construction or repair of any hydraulic work or
structure without duly approved plans and
specifications, when required.
(g) Failure to install a regulating and measuring
device for the control of the volume of water
appropriated, when required.
(h) Unauthorized sale, lease, or transfer of water
and/or water rights.
(i) Failure to provide adequate facilities to prevent
or control diseases when required by the
Council in the construction of any work for the
storage, diversion, distribution and utilization
of water.
(j) Drilling of a well without permission of the
Council.
(k) Utilization of an existing well or ponding or
spreading of water for recharging subterranean
or ground water supplies without permission of
the Council.
 (l) Violation of or non-compliance with any order,
rules, or regulations of the Council.
(m) Illegal taking or diversion of water in an open
canal, aqueduct or reservoir.
(n) Malicious destruction of hydraulic works or
structure valued at not exceeding P5,000.00.
Article 91. A. A fine of not exceeding Three
Thousand Pesos (P3,000.00) or imprisonment for not more
than three (3) years, or both such fine and imprisonment, in
the discretion of the Court, shall be imposed upon any person
who commits any of the following acts:
1. Appropriation of water without a water permit,
unless such person is expressly exempted from
securing a permit by the provisions of this Code.
2. Unauthorized obstruction of an irrigation canal.
3. Cultivation of a river bed, sand bar or tidal flat
without permission.
4. Malicious destruction of hydraulic works or
structure valued at not exceeding Twenty-Five
Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00).
B. A fine exceeding Three Thousand Pesos P3,000.00) but not
more than Six Thousand Pesos P6,000.00) or imprisonment
exceeding three (3) years but not more than six (6) years, or
both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the
Court, shall be imposed on any person who commits any of
the following acts:
1. Distribution for public consumption of water
which adversely affects the health and safety of
the public.
2. Excavation or enlargement of the opening of a hot
spring without permission.
3. Unauthorized obstruction of a river or waterway,
or occupancy of a river bank or seashore
without permission.
4. Establishment of a cemetery or a waste disposal
area near a source of water supply or reservoir
for domestic municipal use without permission.
5. Constructing, without prior permission of the
government agency concerned, works that
produce dangerous or noxious substances, or
performing acts that result in the introduction
of sewage, industrial waste, or any substance
that pollutes a source of water supply.
6. Dumping mine tailings and sediments into rivers
of waterways without permission.
7. Malicious destruction of hydraulic works or
structure valued more than Twenty-Five
Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00) but at not
exceeding One Hundred Thousand Peso
(100,000.00).
C. A fine exceeding Six Thousand Pesos (P6,000.00) but not
more than Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) or
imprisonment exceeding six (6) years but not more than
twelve (12) years, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the
discretion of the Court, shall be imposed upon any person
who commits any of the following acts:
1. Misrepresentation of citizenship in order to
qualify for water permit.
2. Malicious destruction of a hydraulic works or
structure, valued at more than One Hundred
Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00).
19. Repealed Laws
(a) Spanish Law on Waters August 3, 1866, Civil
Code of Spain of 1899 and Civil Code of the Philippines on
ownership of waters, easements relating to waters, use of
public waters and acquisitive prescription on the use of
waters
(b) R.A. No. 6395, Revised Charter of National Power
Corporation, Sec.3 (f) and Sec. 12 appropriation of waters
and the grant thereof
(c) Act no 2152, as amended, Irrigation Act, Sec. 3(k)
& (m); P.D. No. 813; CA No. 137 Sec. 90
(d) All laws, decrees, E.Os, Administrative
regulations and rules of court which are contrary to or
inconsistent with the provisions of the Code
H. WATER DISTRICTS
20. Creation of Water Districts
P.D No. 198 Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973
as amended by P.D no. 768 and P.D no. 1479
- authorizes the formation, lays down the
powers and functions, and governs the
operation of water districts throughout the
country; it is the source of authorization and
power to form and maintain a (water) district.
Once formed, a district is subject to its
provisions and is not under the jurisdiction of
any political subdivision.
Feliciano v. Gison, GR No. 165641 Aug. 25, 2010
 - reiterates that PD No. 198 constitutes the legislative body has the power to dissolve, alter of
special charter by virtue of which local water affect the district beyond that specifically
districts exist provided for in this Act

Water districts derive their legal existence and
power from PD no. 198
- Section 6 of the decree provides that
Water Districts shall exercise the powers,
rights and privileges given to private
corporations under existing laws, in
addition to powers granted in, and subject
to such restrictions imposed under said
Act
Water districts are quasi-judicial corporations
They are authorized not only to exercise all the
powers which are expressly granted by PD
198, and those which are necessarily implied
from or incidental to said powers, but also
the power of eminent domain, the exercise . .
. (of which) shall however be subject to review
by the Administration

- A water district is a government-owned

Dissolution of Water Districts
and controlled corporation with a special
charter Sec. 45 of PD 198, as amended by PD 768, reads:

Functions. "SEC. 45. Dissolution. - A district may be dissolved by

resolution of its board of directors filed in the manner of
Primary function. To sell water to residents within
filling the resolution forming forming the district: Provided,
their territory, under such schedules of rates and
however, That prior to the adoption of any such
charges as may be determined by their boards (Sec.
resolution: (1) another public entity has acquired the
38, PD 198, as amended by PD 768).
assets of the district and has assumed all obligations and
Manage, administer, operate and maintain all
liabilities attached thereto; (2) all bondholders and
watersheds within their territorial boundaries,
other creditors have been notified and they consent to said
safeguard and protect the use of the waters therein
transfer and dissolution; (3) a court of competent
Supervise and control structures within their service
jurisdiction has found that said transfer and dissolution are
areas
in the best interest of the public."
Prohibit any person from selling or otherwise
disposing of water for public purposes within their G. LOCAL WATER UTILITIES ADMINISTRATION (LWUA)
service areas
Powers and Functions

To function primarily as a specialized lending

Conditions under which water districts may
institution fro the promotion, development and financing of
operate.
local water utilities.
(1) The name by which a water district shall be known,
(1) Prescribe minimum standards and regulations
which shall be contained in the enabling
in order to assure acceptable standards of
resolution, and shall include the name of the city,
construction materials and supplies,
municipality, or province, or region thereof,
maintenance, operation, personnel training,
served by said system, followed by the words,
accounting and fiscal practices for local water
Water District
utilities;
(2) the number and qualifications of the members of
(2) Furnish technical assistance and personnel
the board of directors, with the date of expiration
training programs fro local water utilities;
of term of office for each; the manner of their
(3) Monitor and evaluate local water standard;
selection and initial appointment by the head of
and
the local political subdivision; their terms of office
(4) Effects systems integration, joint investment
(2,4 or 6 years); the manner of filling up vacancies
and operations, district annexation and de-
in the board.
annexation whenever economically warranted
The resolution shall contain a statement that the
district may only be dissolved on the grounds and
under the conditions set forth in Section 44 of the LWUA has no adjudicatory functions.
law, but nothing in the resolution of formation, The LWUA has quasi-judicial power only as
the Decree adds shall state or infer that he local regards rates or charges fixed by water districts,
 which it may review to establish compliance
with PD 198, without prejudice to appeal being
taken therefrom by a water concessionaire to
the National Water Resources Council

Securities and Exchange Commission has no

supervisory powers over water districts

It was held that although water districts created by

PD 198 are considered as quasi-public corporations and
authorized to exercise the powers, rights, and privileges
given to private corporations under existing laws, they are
entirely distinct from corporations. The resolutions creating
them, their charters, are filed not with the SEC but with the
LWUA. The SEC has no power of supervision or control over
the activities of water districts.