Angat power plant reduces water releases to ease Bulacan floods

CITY OF MALOLOS – Floods still affecting the Bulacan towns of Calumpit, Hagonoy and Paombong were expected to ease after the Angat Hydroelectric Corporation (AHC) began reducing the volume of water it has been releasing to generate electricity, the National Irrigation Administration said on Tuesday.

AHC, owned by the Korean Water Resources Corp, responded to a request on Monday by Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado due to concerns that its power-generating turbines may be responsible for the stagnant floods still affecting 24 villages in the low-lying towns that serve as natural catch basins.

Angat’s water discharge dropped to 42 cubic meters per second (cms) from 134 cms when prolonged monsoon rains fell over Luzon, said Felix Robles, officer-in-charge of the NIA water control coordinating unit in Bulacan.

Angat dam is a major source of potable water consumed by Metro Manila residents, and provides irrigation to 17 towns in Bulacan and four towns in Pampanga, Robles said.

AHC generates up to 240 Megawatts of electricity using water impounded by the dam.

“But the need to generate electricity is the third priority for Angat Dam. The primary reason for this water release was to control the level of the dam,” Robles said.

Robles said AHC opened its floodgates when rains pulled up the Angat reservoir level from 197 meters above sea level (masl) at the start of August to its current 206 masl.

Robles said AHC was generating electricity to help reduce reservoir water before it reached its 210 masl spilling level.

Alvarado said he asked AHC to “temporarily halt the release until the floods have fully subsided.”

“Then they can go back to releasing water to produce electricity,” he added.