The University of San Carlos -Water Resources Center Foundation, Inc. was registered with the SEC as a non-stock, non-profit corporation on December 17, 2007. It started in 1975 under the name Hydrological Research and Training Unit (HRTU). It was formed as a consequence of combined efforts of NEDA and the University of San Carlos (USC) through Fr. Herman van Engelen, a Dutch priest and physicist, towards an investigation of the intrusion of seawater into the groundwater of Cebu City and Mandaue City. The study established significant baseline information: nearly 5,000 groundwater wells in the two cities were surveyed and catalouged; all available topographic and geologic maps of the area were inventoried; all known geo-hydrologic data collected. In 1979 the name HRTU was changed to Water Resource Center (WRC) since consultancy roles were geared towards water resources development.
The Foundation is a research/operating organization which aims to promote better understanding of water and water resources for people and the environment to benefit adequately and sustainably. It also endeavors to help provide the necessary support systems in order to effect sound decisions in water resources planning, development, and management.
Its main office is located at University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus, Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City. The Foundation has a fifteen (15) regular staff , four (4) contractual staff , two (2) part-time staff, and five (5) members of the Board of Trustees.
Its purposes, among others, are to evaluate water resources, its natural occurrence, development, and actual utilization; to design a sustainable utilization of water resources; to design appropriate water supply system and wastewater treatment/disposal systems.
The Foundations programs/projects now focus on the following areas: research, consultancy and performance of feasibility studies, groundwater evaluation, and water quality studies, among others.
