‘Angat water receding at an alarming level’

The Angat Dam, which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water needs, has fallen to a critical level and continues to recede alarmingly with no contingency measures being put in place, an official of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the Angat water reservoir continues to decline steeply despite massive diversion of water from as far as the Umiray River in Quezon last month.

As of last Thursday, the Angat Dam’s water level had fallen to its "180-meter lower rule curve" — or at 179.09 meters — according to the top MWSS official.

Based on projections of the National Water Resource Management Board, the dam’s water level should be 182.7 meters in anticipation of the El Niño phenomenon.

Although the board anticipates the Angat water level to rise only in August, it did not expect the sudden drop, the official said.

Based on MWSS records, the water level dropped at an average of .15 meters in June. Between June 26 and 27, however, the decline was .47 meters and "this appears to be the new trend," the official said.