Angat Dam. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / ARNOLD ALMACEN
The water level of the Angat Dam may hit critical level in the next five days unless a thunderstorm with enough rainfall breaks the dry spell, the weather bureau said on Wednesday.
The Angat Dam in Bulacan province supplies the water needs of Metro Manila and provides irrigation to Central Luzon.
“We expect that the 180-meter crucial elevation will be breached. By Sunday or Monday, it will hit 180,” Maximo Peralta, chief of the weather bureau’s hydrometeorology division said. “If it happens, there will be no irrigation for Central Luzon and water will only be for Metro Manila’s domestic supply.”
Peralta said the Angat Dam’s water level has been decreasing daily by a foot or 1/3 of a meter this month and there has been a downward trend since the start of the year.
As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, the water level was at 181.48 meters above sea level (masl), down by 0.27 meters from 6 a.m. Tuesday.
“If a thunderstorm with a 50-mm rainfall occurs, the water level may increase by 1.5 meters which is equivalent to five days of Metro Manila’s domestic water supply,” Peralta said.
The Angat Dam’s lowest water level was recorded in July 2010 when it reached 157.56 masl.