Angat Dam water goes below critical level

Angat Dam INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / ARNOLD ALMACEN

WATER supply from the Angat Dam for Bulacan and Pampanga’s irrigation will now be cut off after the water level in the dam went below the critical level on Tuesday (May 26).

Angat Dam’s water level has been falling for the past several weeks.

On early Tuesday, the level fell below the critical level of 180 meters above sea level to 179.88 meters above sea level, reported the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

The Angat Dam located in Bulacan supplies 97 per cent of Metro Manila’s domestic water needs and provides irrigation for 27,000 hectares of agricultural land in Bulacan and Pampanga.

Under the protocol, Angat Dam’s irrigation supply is cut off when the water level falls below 180 meters.

But Metro Manila will continue to draw from the dam unless the level further falls to 160 meters when water release will be limited.

The normal operating level of Angat Dam is 212 meters above sea level.

PAGASA hydrologist Edgar Dela Cruz said at the rate that the dam’s water level has been falling by about .3 meter every day, Angat Dam’s level will be about 172 to 173 meters by the middle of June.

PAGASA said the rainy season would start by mid-June.

All the other major dams are below their normal operating level but are not yet in their critical level, according to Dela Cruz. SFM/AC