The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said water supply in Metro Manila, amid the expected effects of El Niño, is still “comfortable.”
MWSS made this assurance based on simulations of water level trajectory of the Angat Dam which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water requirements.
Based on data from the National Power Corp., Angat Dam’s elevation as of 8 a.m. yesterday, is at 203.25 meters, 23.25 meters more than the 180 meters minimum operating level.
Leonor Cleofas, MWSS administrator, said at the sidelines of the Kaliwa dam project construction site in Teresa, Rizal yesterday the technical working group on the Angat Dam has its own simulation that showed “good prognosis” for the facility’s elevation until the end of summer and end-August this year. The body is chaired by the National Water Resources Board and is composed of the National Irrigation Administration MWSS and other stakeholders of the Angat Dam.
“We do not depend on Angat Dam alone. We have short- to medium- term sources of additional water. They may … not be as big as Angat but these can (be of) help (to) our water needs during the summer months,” Cleofas added.
The MWSS said construction of the Kaliwa Dam has hit 24 percent. The dam is targeted for completion by end-2026 and operational by January 2027.
Meanwhile, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) is pushing for a conservation program that will manage water supply of 532 water districts in the country.
“With both public and private stakeholders, we will have a whole of nation approach on a conservation program for water resources since this early, this month, we already feel the increased need for water,” said Vicente Homer Revil, LWUA administrator, at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.
Revil said LWUA is also looking at foreign technologies in harnessing water resources like those used in Israel which can be applicable for use in the Philippines including desalination and catchment dams, among others.
