Magat water level lowest in 3 years

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – The water level of Magat Dam hit its all-time low in three years despite the rains dumped by Typhoon Glenda yesterday. 

As of noon yesterday, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said Magat’s water elevation reached 160.46 meters or less than a meter above the dam’s minimum operational level to generate power.

NIA engineer Saturnino Tenedor, the dam’s instrumentation and forecasting officer, said yesterday’s water level was the lowest in three years.  

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the rains dumped by Glenda over the region failed to save the dam from nearing its 160-meter critical level, its minimum operational level to continue generating electricity.    

Meteorologist Ramil Tuppil said only the rains brought by a typhoon that would directly affect the Magat area and its main watersheds here and in Ifugao province could restore the dam’s stable water reserves.

At least 80,000 hectares of farmlands depends on Magat Dam for irrigation. The dam also contributes 380 megawatts to the Luzon grid.

NIA’s Magat River Integrated Irrigation System, which oversees Magat’s irrigation component, has resorted to irrigation on rotational basis due to the dam’s dwindling water reserves.

The Department of Agriculture has called on farmers to temporarily shift to drought-resistant crops such as cassava and mungbean.

Since May, SN Aboitiz Power, which owns and operates the dam’s power component, has been operating at a reduced capacity due to the dropping water reserves.

Magat Dam last shut down its power generation in March 2010, affecting the entire Luzon grid, when its water level dropped to 152.7 meters.

The three-decade-old dam, Asia’s once biggest power and irrigation facility, recorded its lowest water level of 149 meters in July 1991.

Recently, cloud seeding has resumed over the dam and its watersheds to prevent the multibillion-peso dam from reaching its critical water level.