The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) anticipates the reduction of water allocation for irrigation as Angat dam nears the 180 meters minimum operating level.
Patrick James Dizon, MWSS division manager for Angat-Ipo operation management, said at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday the dam’s elevation is currently at 181 meters.
If the dam reaches 180 meters, water allocation for irrigation will be lessened since the priority is domestic water supply.
Dizon said the inter-agency technical working group for the Angat dam operation and management composed of the MWSS, wthe National Water Resources Board (NWRB), National Irrigation Administration and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) will meet to discuss measures to mitigate the impact of Angat’s critical water level to consumers and farmers.
“PAG-ASA will project the expected rain in water sheds, there we will learn if the reservoir water level will drop to the critical level. Right now, we can’t say if MWSS will request (for an increased allocation) since we also need to manage Angat dam’s water level,” Dizon said.
The NWRB allocated 50 cubic meters per second (cms) of water from Angat Dam for Metro Manila water concessionaires for July.
A maximum of 28.5 cms has also been allocated for the irrigation needs of Bulacan and Pampanga for the month.
As it is, MWSS expects interruptions for customers of Maynilad Water Services Inc. if there will not be enough rainfall to fill watersheds this month. Around 632,000 water service connections of Maynilad in parts of Quezon city, Caloocan and Manila will be affected
Based on data from the National Power Corp., Angat Dam’s elevation as of 8 a.m. yesterday is at 181.53 meters, just 1.53 meters more than the minimum operating level.
