Angat Dam level nears lowest on record

MANILA, Philippines - A ranking official of the Angat Dam reported yesterday that water elevation at the dam dipped to 159.37 meters, just a meter above the lowest water elevation recorded in September 1998, a year after the country experienced a dry spell brought about by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Engineer Rodolfo German, manager of the Angat River Hydro Electric Power Plant (Arhepp) of the National Power Corp. that controls the Angat Dam, said no weather system is seen on the horizon yet to replenish dwindling water at the dam.

“Metro Manila must start learning how to do rainwater harvesting methods,” he said.

The dam supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water requirements.

German said anybody can store rainwater in drums or buckets and use it for cleaning, citing residents of some Thai cities have been harvesting rainwater.

“Water is God’s gift, but we are not giving much attention to it,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

He said Angat Dam still allocates 33 cubic meters of water per second to Metro Manila, but dam officials could cut the allocation or enforce rationing if the water continues to drop below its lowest level on record.

German said water allocation to Metro Manila will continue as they have opened their low-level outlet tunnel to let water through to Ipo Dam, then through the pipelines towards La Mesa Dam.

However, he said since the power turbines of Arhepp are moved by water pressure from the Angat Dam, they cannot operate the 246-megawatt power plant with the current water level.

“There is a possibility that our turbines may suffer water-hammering, so we decided to shut down starting today and do our preventive maintenance,” German said. He said work on the turbines will continue until Friday.

German earlier proposed the construction of a mini-dam at the downstream of the Angat and Ipo dams to store water spilled during the rainy season. He said a mini-dam can address the water needs of Bulacan and Pampanga farmers during the summer.