Angat Dam’s water level continues to recede

MALOLOS CITY — Despite efforts to induce rain through cloud-seeding operations over the Angat watershed areas, the water level at the Angat Dam, Metro Manila’s main source of drinking water, continues to slide, sources said.

In a span of three days, water elevation at the dam’s reservoir went down by as much as 0.88 meter, from 199.92 meters last Friday to 199.04 meters yesterday.

Following instructions from the National Resource Board, dam personnel has reportedly cut off five percent of the normal potable water supply to Metro Manila and irrigation supply to farmlands in Bulacan and some parts of Pampanga.

Earlier, Roque de Guzman, plant operation-maintenance manager of the Angat Hydro-electric Plant, said that irrigation supply to farmlands being serviced by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) may be slashed down to 28.53 cubic meters per second (cms) in March and may be reduced even further by as much as 7.92 cms in April.

Water allocation to be distributed to the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWS) for distribution to Manila water concessionaires are also scheduled to be reduced from 43.7 cms in December to 39.10 cms in March and 36.8 cms in April.

There are fears that unless a typhoon hits the country and dumps rains over the Angat watershed areas and current cloud-seeding operations over the dam’s reservoir brings rain, the water level could plunge to the July 6, 2002 record measurement of 175.23 meters.

"That‘s the lowest we have recorded," said Raul Agustin of the Provincial Disaster Management Office, which is monitoring the daily water level of the dam.

A reduction of the normal daily allotment of water from the Angat Dam would result in a shortfall of food crop production particularly in the province of Bulacan similar to the effects of the El Niño in 1992.