Pantabangan near critical level

CABANATUAN CITY — Water at the giant Pantabangan Dam is nearing critical level due to prolonged drought, which the El Niño weather disturbance has spawned.

The National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS), which operates the Pantabangan Dam, said the water level, as of yesterday, was at 173.95 meters, just a shade above the critical level of 172 meters.

Engineer Carlito Gapasin, officer-in-charge of the NIA-UPRIIS’ operations and institutional division, said they would cut off water supply by month’s end to some 67,200 hectares of farmlands programmed for irrigation this dry season.

The dam has been releasing water at an average of 20 cubic meters per second per day.

"With water at Pantabangan Dam reaching critical level, we will stop releasing water by April 30," Gapasin said.

He attributed the dam’s low water level to the effects of the El Niño, which is characterized by prolonged dry spell. He said many parts of Nueva Ecija and certain areas in Central Luzon have not experienced any rainfall since last September.

But despite El Niño’s onslaught, Gapasin said the summer crop or first semester harvest appears to be good since many farmers planted palay earlier than usual.

He said only some 15,000 to 20,000 hectares of ricefields with standing crops, representing just 20 percent of the planted area, need irrigation. These farmlands are located in the towns of Aliaga, Licab, Quezon, Cabiao, Zaragoza and Jaen.

"We are now in the terminal stage of irrigation so we expect farmers to have a good harvest despite the El Niño," he said. — Manny Galvez, Ding Cervantes