Angat, Ipo Dams spill water

MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — Rains dumped by Tropical Storm Ramil made Angat and Ipo Dams release water yesterday, raising the overflow water volume of Bustos Dam  downstream.

As of 12:30 p.m. yesterday, records from the Bulacan provincial disaster risk reduction and management office showed the water elevation of Angat, Ipo and Bustos Dams at 209.32, 100.95 and 15.56 meters, respectively.

As the water elevation of Angat rose closer to its normal high water level of 212 meters, its operator raised Gate No. 2 to spill 50 cubic meters per second (CMS) of water to its downstream river system.

The Ipo Dam operator also raised Radial Gate No. 1 to spill 60.50 CMS as its water elevation rose closer to the spilling level of 101 meters.

The combined water spillage of Angat and Ipo Dams and upstream river flow raised the Bustos Dam overflow water volume to 212 CMS, with its Rubber Gates 1, 2, 4 and 6 open or deflated.

Angat Dam supplies 90 percent of Metro Manila’s drinking water. It passes through Ipo Dam, which diverts it to the Balara filtration plant. It also provides 218 megawatts of hydropower to the Luzon grid and supplies irrigation water to over 20,000 hectares of farmlands in Bulacan and parts of Pampanga. –