Luzon dams continue to release water in anticipation of more rains

MANILA, Philippines – Several major dams in Luzon are continuously releasing water in anticipation of more rains as tropical storm “Helen” (international name: Kai-Tak) slowly makes its way to northern Luzon Tuesday.

Angat dam in Bulacan has three gates opening a total of three meters and releasing 440 cubic meters per second of water, according to the dams status report of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Tuesday morning.

As of 8 a.m., Angat’s water level was 214.41 meters, over four meters above its normal high water level (NHWL) of 210 meters, Pagasa said. The NHWL is a way of measuring when the dam’s water level is already above normal and is set by the dam management. The NHWL has an allowance of several meters from the actual spilling level of the dam.

Angat did not release water during the previous week’s torrential rains from the southwest monsoon so as not to aggravate the flood situation in many parts of Bulacan.

Ipo dam, which sits downstream from Angat, has four gates opening a total of 3.3 meters and is releasing 474 cubic meters per second of water. Its water level was 100.17 meters, more than half a meter below the NHWL of 100.8 meters.

Ambuklao dam has two gates opening a total of 1.5 meters and was releasing 248 cubic meters per second of water. Its water level was 749.78 meters, more than two meters below the NHWL of 752 meters.

Binga dam has three gates opening a total of 2.5 meters. Its water level was 574.34 meters, more than half a meter below the NHWL of 575 meters. Binga dam receives water being released by the Ambuklao dam upstream.

San Roque dam has one gate open at half a meter and releasing 330 cubic meters per second of water. Its water level was 280.88 meters, almost a meter above its NHWL of 280 meters. San Roque dam sits downstream from Ambuklao and Binga dams.

Director Edgar Ollet, Chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Operations Center told reporters that local governments sitting downstream from these dams have been alert of the release of water as well as of the coming tropical storm.

Magat dam has two gates opening a total of three meters and releasing 702 cubic meters per second of water. Its water level was 190.82 meters, almost a meter above its NHWL of 190 meters. Magat dam is a major tributary of the Cagayan River.

The water being released by Magat dam would be enough to fill an Olympic-size pool with a minimum volume of 2,500 cubic meters in three and a half seconds.