Bulacan to install CCTV cams along river to forecast floods

CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — The Bulacan government is installing closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras along the Angat River spanning Norzagaray, Bustos and Baliuag towns to closely monitor the level of water along the waterway, especially when excess water is released from the Angat and Ipo dams.

Felicisima Mungcal, provincial disaster risk reduction and management council (PDRRMC) executive director, said the CCTV cameras would serve as flood forecasting devices that could help in the early detection of rising water in perennially flooded Bulacan.

She said the CCTV cameras would be placed at the Matictic Bridge in Norzagaray and at the Alejo Santos Bridge at the boundary of Bustos and Baliuag towns to augment the warning systems of the province’s dams.

She said the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and personnel from its concessionaires, the Manila Water Company Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc., would help the province set up the CCTV cameras along the river.

Maynilad and Manila Water get their water supply from the Ipo Dam, which is fed by the Angat Dam in Barangay San Lorenzo in Norzagaray.

Mungcal said that as early as September in 2010, Bulacan officials had asked the MWSS to put in place CCTV cameras along the Angat River. The request was reiterated by provincial administrator Jim Valerio last week.

She said the PDRRMC has been relying on gauges installed at the foot of the Matictic Bridge, the Alejo Santos Bridge and Sta. Lucia Bridge (Angat) but these could not accurately measure actual water volume, especially during heavy rains and typhoons.

The National Power Corp., which oversees the operations of the Angat Dam, uses sirens to warn riverside communities of water release. It takes 40 minutes for water released by Angat Dam to reach Ipo Dam and more than two hours to reach Matictic River.

With CCTV cameras in place, Mungcal said the PDRRMC could monitor water level and volume in real time and improve coordination with disaster-response agencies and local governments for evacuation of residents.

She said images captured by the CCTV cameras would be fed to screens in the PDRRMC office and in other major offices in the provincial capitol here.