Napocor reduces Angat Dam releases as floods subside

CITY OF MALOLOS—The National Power Corp. (Napocor) has reduced the volume of water being released by Angat Dam on Tuesday, hoping to ease the impact of the water discharges on flooded Bulacan towns.

Gladys Sta. Rita, Napocor president, said dam operators cut down the volume of water being spilled by 75 percent as of 1 p.m. on Tuesday, although the water level at the Angat reservoir was 215.22 meters above sea level (masl), 3 meters higher than the spilling level of 212 masl.

Angat floodgates have been open since 5 p.m. on Friday, due to runoff water coming from the Sierra Madre mountains.

Sta. Rita said: “The decision to further reduce the spill came after the emergency inter-agency coordination meeting [on Tuesday]. The group agreed to further reduce the dam spill today after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration informed the officers involved in the meeting that there are no weather disturbances in the next five days.”

She said allowing the Angat reservoir level to reach an elevation of 217.00 masl would be more dangerous.

“Metro Manila, which is dependent on water from Angat Dam, will run out of supply if the dam becomes unstable. Bulacan province will be affected if the dam overflows [because] almost every town will be flooded,” she said.

“When Typhoon ‘Cading’ struck in 1978, Angat Dam overflowed and residents in many towns in Bulacan were affected. Many drowned. This is one thing we are avoiding,” she said.

Floods have disappeared in San Miguel and Norzagaray towns and have started to subside by as much as 10 inches in Calumpit, Hagonoy, and Pulilan towns, said Felicisima Mungcal, chief of the Bulacan provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO).

However, floods have reached Paombong town, she said.

The PDRRMO reported a fatality, Oliver Faustino, 10, who died from a snake bite in Barangay Meyto in Calumpit.  Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon