Magat Dam water elevation nearing normal level

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines  – After nearly reaching its all-time low, Magat Dam’s water elevation is significantly climbing to normal level amid the onset of rains in the region and the rest of Luzon. 

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said the dam’s water elevation as of yesterday rose to 167.7 meters, a significant improvement from 165 meters last week or 148.8 meters at the height of the dry spell.

“(The dam’s) normal water level is 174.5 meters,” said NIA engineer Saturnino Tenedor, chief of the dam’s instrumentation, flood forecas-ting and warning section. 

The dam’s power generation facility, according to Tenedor, has resumed its operation since June 1 after almost three months of being suspended due to the drought that almost brought the water level to the all-time low of 148 meters recorded in the 1980s. 

Located along the Isabela-Ifugao border, the Magat Dam, aside from irrigating some 80,000 hectares of farmlands in Isabela and parts of Cagayan, contributes a maximum of 360 megawatts of electricity, the second biggest power contributor to the Luzon grid among all the hydro-power dams in Luzon, after Pangasinan’s San Roque Dam.

The Magat Dam’s power facility was forced to shut down last March after the water elevation fell below 160 meters, the minimum operational level for it to continue generating power, due to the long absence of rainfall. 

“The Magat plant has operated at reduced capacity since January and temporarily shut down in the middle of March when the water elevation was no longer sufficient for the plant to generate power,” said lawyer Mike Hosillos, vice president for corporate services of SN Aboitiz Power-Magat Inc.

SN Aboitiz Power is a Filipino-Norwegian consortium, which bought the Magat Dam’s power facility from the national government in 2008. The dam’s irrigation component remains under the state-owned NIA.

The dry spell has brought agricultural losses worth at least P6 billion. Isabela, the country’s leading corn and rice producer, incurred the brunt, losing at least P5 billion in potential crops during the first and second quarters of the year.