San Roque Dam increases water discharge

San Roque Dam. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DAGUPAN CITY – The water level at the San Roque Dam has breached its maximum level of 280 meters above sea level (masl), prompting dam
officials to release more water into the Agno River.

 
As of 3 p.m. on Saturday, the dam’s water level was recorded at 280.45 masl.

The dam’s two spillway gates openings have been increased to a total of two meters, according to Tom Valdez, San Roque Power Corp. vice president for corporate social responsibility.

 
The dam began releasing water at Saturday noon, with each of the two spillways opened at half a meter, releasing water at the rate of 402
cubic meters per second (cms).

 
A cubic meter of water is about 1,000 liters or about 5 drums of water.

 
With its new spillway gates height, the dam is now discharging water at 548 cms, which is more than twice the inflow of 1,402 cms, the
amount of water going into the dam.

 
The water inflow comes from run off water flowing into the Agno River and from the Binga Dam in Benguet province, which opened all its six
spillway gates since Friday.

 
Valdez said that the dam can accommodate water up to 290 masl, the dam’s spilling level.

 
He said the 280 masl level is the amount of water that the dam has to meet to have enough irrigation water for the year. JE