If our country is practically a system of prominent watersheds totaling 421 in all, we need to know how to use the watershed properly and not merely say, for instance, that some mines should be closed because they are inside watersheds. We have to be definite where, say, extractive industries can be or are actually located among the different slope gradients of watersheds. It is important to point out that processes occurring in a watershed are interconnected. In particular, activities upstream have effects on the downstream areas. Thus, in a rainy country like ours, unregulated extractive industries like mining and forestry that are located upstream can lead to downstream problems like water pollution, mudslides, landslides, soil erosion, siltation, flooding and eventual destruction of lives and property. Deforestation, even more than mining, is more problematic because its effects are more pervasive and repetitive. Still, mining can also cause these hazards because it is topographically intrusive and does not respect slope limits.

Juanico, M. (2017, April 11). What is a watershed?. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A11.