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IMSWES Project - The Study Area
Manila Bay and Laguna Lake - A Primer
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MANILA BAY
The Manila Bay/Laguna
Lake System is important since it is within the vicinity of Metro Manila and Regions III and IV, areas considered economically,
politically and demographically active. In these regions, the consequent environmental problems have fostered continuing debate on how
to resolve conflicting issues and concerns in natural resource management. Another advantage and convenience in studying this system is
the fact that it has the greatest amount of physical, biological and environmental information available compared to other similar water
bodies in the Philippines
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Manila Bay has many uses such as
marine fisheries, aquaculture or fishponds, ports and navigation waterways, resorts and recreational sites, and the habitats of diverse
natural aquatic life.
The southern part of Manila Bay
opens to the South China Sea, while its northern end is fed by the lahar sediment-laden freshwater discharges from the Pasac Delta, and
the flow discharges from the Pampanga River Basin which is the largest tributary basin. Its western side receives discharges from the
watersheds of Bataan and eastern side is the combination of rural and urban river flows from the coastal towns of Bulacan and Cavite
provinces as well as and the more polluted runoff from the Metro Manila rivers, including the Pasig River which is the outlet of Laguna
Lake.
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LAGUNA LAKE
Laguna Lake is a large inland body which interacts with Manila Bay through Pasig River and receives significant freshwater inflows
of varying water quality from the urban and rural watersheds of the surrounding towns. Laguna Lake is a multi-purpose water resource
system for fisheries, flood control, hydropower generation with the Caliraya pumped-storage system, navigation and transport as well as
water source of domestic water supply and irrigation.
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Satellite images from CRISP (http://www.crisp.nus.edu.sg)
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