Reynaldo C. Mencias, National Irrigation Administration (NIA-PDDP-Irrigation Component) project manager, told The STAR that the claim of Nueva Ecija farmers that the dam would cause massive flooding in the southernmost municipalities of Cabiao and San Antonio was "grossly inaccurate" considering that the elevation of the dam is 8.5 meters which is way below the natural ground contour of the Pampanga River whose maximum elevation is at 10 meters.
"If the dam’s height is much lower than that of the Pampanga River’s elevation, I don’t see how the dam could cause flooding in Cabiao and San Antonio as claimed by the farmers," Mencias said.
He added that he is willing to test-run the dam in the presence of the local officials and farmers of the two towns to erase their apprehensions about the dam’s safety.
Mencias was reacting to the allegations of farmer-leaders in this town and in San Antonio that the dam, which is under construction in Arayat, Pampanga would flood up to 8,200 hectares of agricultural lands in the two areas, including 6,776 hectares in barangays Sta. Isabel and Bagong Sikat here.
Local officials of the two towns led by Mayors Gloria Congco of Cabiao and Jose Salonga of San Antonio and farmers expressed alarm during a recent public hearing at the town hall here that the dam could cause flooding in their areas, particularly in the event the Pampanga River overflows.
The irrigation component which is now 94 percent complete and which will be finished this year, will irrigate 10,500 hectares of farmlands in the Pampanga towns of Arayat, Candaba, San Luis, Mexico and Sta. Ana. It will initially irrigate 5,000 hectares in June.