The Water Code of the Philippines, read for a lot owner
Presidential Decree 1067 of 1976 is the Water Code. Its first principle is that all waters belong to the State, and the rest says who may use them and how. For someone who owns a lot, it settles four things: the water on your own land, when a water permit is needed, how water drains between neighbours, and the strip along a river, lake or shore that cannot be built on. Each row below carries the article it comes from.
The Water Code, article by article, for a house and lot
Each row gives the point, the rule in short, and the article it comes from.
Water on your own land
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns it | the State | Article 6: water rising on private land, natural lakes and lagoons on it, rain falling on it, groundwater under it and water in its swamps all belong to the State. Article 3(a): all waters belong to the State |
| Using it for the household | no permit needed | Article 6: the owner of the land may use it for domestic purposes without a permit, provided the use is registered when the Council requires it; the Council may regulate it where there is wastage or in an emergency |
| What counts as domestic | drinking to the garden | Article 10: drinking, washing, bathing, cooking or other household needs, home gardens, and watering lawns or domestic animals |
| Rain collected from the roof | domestic use, no permit | Article 6(c) names rain water falling on private land among the State's waters, and the same article lets the owner use it for domestic purposes without a permit, on the same conditions: registered if the Council requires it, and open to regulation for wastage or in an emergency. Article 7: whoever collects water in cisterns, tanks or pools has exclusive control of it |
Taking water from a source
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Any other appropriation | water permit | Article 13: no one may appropriate water without a water right, evidenced by a water permit, except as the Code provides |
| Without a permit, from a river or lake | by hand, bathing, washing, animals | Article 14: taking water in hand-carried receptacles, and bathing, washing or watering animals, need no permit |
| Who may apply for a permit | citizens of legal age, qualified juridical persons | Article 15; Article 16: the application is published for protests and weighed against prior permits, the water available and possible adverse effects |
| Drilling a well | the Council's prior permission | Article 64: no one may drill a well without it; the Council approves the manner, location, depth and spacing of borings and sets the rules for registering them |
| How much you may take | beneficial use | Article 20: the right amount during the period the water is needed for the purpose it was appropriated for |
Drainage and neighbours
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Water flowing down from a higher lot | the lower lot receives it | Article 50: the lower owner may not block the natural flow unless they provide another way to drain it, and the higher owner may not build works that increase it |
| Draining a higher lot by artificial means | least damage, with compensation | Article 46: the higher owner chooses the route and method that cause the least damage to the lower land, subject to just compensation |
| Where a drainage system empties | a natural body of water or approved course | Article 44: rivers, lakes, the sea, natural bodies of water, or another watercourse the proper agency approves |
| Damage from using or storing water | compensation | Article 47: whoever is responsible pays for damage the use, conveyance or storage of water causes another |
Rivers, creeks and floods
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| The strip along a river, stream, lake or the sea | 3 m urban, 20 m agricultural, 40 m forest | Article 51: an easement of public use along the banks of rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes, in which no one may build structures of any kind. The Code does not define the three kinds of area, so ask the city or municipal planning and zoning office how the land is classified |
| Protecting your land from the river | levees or revetments allowed | Article 57: any person may build them against flood, encroachment or a change of course, provided they cause no damage to another's property |
| Raising, lowering or draining a river, lake or marsh | permit needed | Article 43 |
| A declared flood control area | activities may be restricted | Articles 53 to 55: rules may prohibit activities that obstruct the flow or worsen flooding, and the government has an easement along the bank as wide as its flood control works need |
| A river that suddenly changes course across your land | no compensation for the damage | Article 58: the owners cannot make the government restore the old bed, and the owners of the new bed own the abandoned bed in proportion to the area each lost. They may return the river to its old bed at their own expense, with a permit from the Secretary of Public Works, as the Code names the office, if the work starts within two years of the change |
If the Code is broken
| Point | In short | Source and condition |
|---|---|---|
| Household groundwater use not registered when required | fine or loss of the right | Article 90(a): suspension or revocation of the right to use the water, a fine, or both, at the Council's discretion |
| Drilling a well without permission | fine or loss of the right | Article 90(j), with the same penalties as Article 90(a) |
| Occupying a riverbank or seashore without permission | fine, imprisonment or both | Article 91(B)(3), which also covers unauthorised obstruction of a river or waterway; imposed by a court |
| Taking water without a permit when one is required | fine, imprisonment or both | Article 91(A)(1): imposed by a court, which Article 93 says hears these offences |
What it means when you buy or build
- Before buying a lot by a river, creek, lake or the sea. Article 51 keeps a strip along the bank or shore free of structures, and it can take a real share of a narrow lot. Our consultation for future home buyers looks at what a lot can hold before you commit, and the easements guide covers the strip alongside the Civil Code's older rule. A rest house by a river or the sea is covered in the rest house design guide.
- Collecting rain. Rain falling on your land is the State's, but Article 6 lets you use it for household needs without a permit, registered if the Council requires it. The sustainable design options service covers rainwater catchment.
- A well for the house. Using groundwater for household needs requires no water permit under Article 6, but Article 64 requires the Council's permission before a well is drilled, and the use must be registered when the Council requires it. Article 90 penalises drilling without permission (90(j)) and unregistered use (90(a)).
- Drainage on a sloping lot. Articles 46 and 50 decide who receives whose water; rain from a roof is governed by the Civil Code's Article 674, covered in the easements guide. Where the storm drainage of the house goes is shown on the plans, as the house plan guide sets out.
What this page does not cover
- Which office handles a permit today. The Code names the National Water Resources Council. The office that now processes permits and registrations, its forms and its fees are outside the Code and are not described here.
- Irrigation, power, fisheries and industry. Most of the Code concerns larger water users and is left out.
- The fine amounts. Articles 90 and 91 set them; this page does not print amounts.
Source: Presidential Decree No. 1067, the Water Code of the Philippines, as published by the Lawphil Project.