NIA mulls revising dam protocols to prevent future flooding

Image from NIA – Magat River Integrated Irrigation System Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Following the massive flooding in Cagayan, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said Tuesday it will revisit the protocols on releasing water in dams to prevent another massive flooding in low lying areas from happening again in the future.

“Actually yesterday, nag-meeting na kami dito sa Cauayan to revisit po yung protocol namin,” NIA Dam and Reservoir Division Manager Eduardo Ramos said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.

(Yesterday, we had a meeting here in Cauayan to revisit our protocols.)

“Ang sabi ko, mag-convene ang NIA management at pag-usapan ito kung paano i-revise para ma-solve natin yung problema sa flooding sa downstream,” he added.

(The NIA management should convene and talk about how to revise this to solve the problem of flooding in the downstream.)

The NIA was heavily criticized by several groups and even Cagayan governor Manuel Mamba for opening Magat Dam’s gates only at the height of Typhoon Ulysses.

But NIA insisted that it followed proper protocols in releasing water from Magat Dam’s reservoir.

This includes coordinating with various agencies like the Office of Civil Defense, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, concerned local government offices and more during and after water releases.

The NIA also said it used different mediums of communication to disseminate information and updates on the dam’s water releases.

Ulysses left at least 67 people killed after it caused heavy flooding in Marikina City, parts of Rizal province, Cagayan and Isabela.

EDV