Napocor hit for 'breach of protocol' on dam water release

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines  – Gov. Amado Espino Jr. plans to sue the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to stop the operations of the San Roque Dam.

Speaking to reporters the other day, Espino said he wants to settle the issue on the alleged breach of protocol on the release of water from the dam to clear the worry of Pangasinenses on unexpected flooding.

“We cannot continue to be like this every time there is rain or typhoon. We (need to) talk about this (water release),” he said.

“This has been going on for three years. Now if these people are not concerned about our protocol, they simply don’t know the worries of our countrymen,” he added.

Espino said provincial folk, especially those who have suffered from the water released in great volume from San Roque Dam, are apprehensive.

“What we had agreed upon after the devastations from typhoon ‘Pepeng’ (some three years ago), it seems like that they did not take it to heart,” he said.

Water from the dam should have been released even before the 280-meter above sea level (masl) because of the heavy downpour, Espino said.

Provincial administrator Rafael Baraan said the dam management accumulates water for power generation, which might be detrimental to Pangasinenses if the incident during typhoon Pepeng is repeated when dam operators opened five spillway gates and released a huge volume of water.

“We knew it even if they won’t admit it,” he said. “It’s for power generation.”

For several days, the average dam water level has been 283 masl despite the calibrated water release beyond the spilling level of 280 masl.

The San Roque Dam started releasing water Tuesday night with .5-meter opening in one gate.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the water level was at 282.63 masl with two spillway gates open, with total opening of 2.5 meters. Inflow was 513 cubic meters per second (cms) while the outflow was 653 cms.

As of Tuesday afternoon, floodwaters had affected at least 5,896 families or 29,441 people in the towns of Dasol, Aguilar, Bugallon, Sta. Barbara and Calasiao, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.