In Luzon, execs keep focus on falling water levels, rain lack

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines—Despite the scorching heat, water level at San Roque Dam in San Manuel town, Pangasinan province, remains adequate for irrigation and power generation, an official of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) said.

Virgilio Garcia, chief of Napocor’s Agno River flood forecasting and warning system, said the dam’s water elevation as of 6 a.m. on Wednesday was 240.74 meters above sea level (masl).

This was lower by 17 centimeters than the water level of 240.91 masl recorded on Tuesday.

“But this is 10 meters above the rule curve. So, we are still good,” Garcia said by telephone. A rule curve shows desired water levels for dam operations.

In April last year, the dam’s water level went down to 236.33 masl, prompting dam officials to conserve water.

“Although the dam’s water level is dropping, we can still provide water for irrigation and for San Roque Power Corp. to produce power,” said Garcia.

The dam has a normal high water level of 280 masl. This can reach 290 masl for its flood control component.

Critical point

If the rainy season comes late, the dam may reach its critical level of 225 masl, Garcia said. “Below 225 masl, the plant will no longer be able to produce power,” he said.

In Isabela province, water level at Magat Dam in Ramon town dropped to 167.7 masl on Wednesday. Saturnino Tenedor, Magat Dam instrumentation and flood forecasting section chief, said they were expecting the water level to drop further if the rains don’t come in the next few days.

The dam’s ideal water level is 193 masl. Cloud seeding in the watershed area of Magat Dam had been suspended after a plane involved in the operations crashed in Nueva Vizcaya province on Sunday, killing all four people on board.

In Nueva Ecija province, officials manning Pantabangan Dam projected the water level to drop to 178.3 masl by the end of June, barely a few meters from the critical level of 172 masl, due to a wider irrigation service area and the lack of strong rains in the watershed.

But Josephine Salazar, operations manager of the National Irrigation Administration–Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS), said farmers have nothing to worry about the current condition of the dam.

Use water wisely

Pantabangan supplies irrigation to over 114,000 hectares of farmland in Nueva Ecija and portions of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac provinces.

Salazar said the dam can continue to provide irrigation until the end of May even as farmers are advised to use water wisely.

She described the decrease as a “normal occurrence” at this time of the year.

She said the agency has increased its service area this year from 111,252 ha. to 114,026 ha.

In Bulacan, Napocor officials were relieved as rains this week helped increase the water level in Angat Dam. On Wednesday, Angat’s water elevation was 183.62 masl, which was higher than Monday’s 183.24 masl. The dam’s critical level is 180 masl.

Alfredo German, general manager of Angat hydroelectric power plant, said hourlong rains since Monday have helped increase the water volume in the reservoir.

Metro priority

The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) said it will automatically stop the release of irrigation water from Angat when the reservoir level drops to 180 masl. This, the NWRB said, will help ensure the continuous supply of water to Metro Manila households and establishments.

Precioso Punzalan, assistant operations engineer of the NIA office that manages Bustos Dam, said farmers in Bulacan and Pampanga will receive an allocation of 10 cubic meters per second of irrigation water until May 15 to save crops that are due for harvest by the end of the month.  Reports from Gabriel Cardinoza and Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Armand Galang and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon