Angat dam nears critical level—report
Angat Dam. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Angat dam is nearing its critical level as of Saturday afternoon, an official said in a radio report.
National Water Resources Board executive director Sevillo David said the water level hit 180.35 meters as of 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The critical level of the dam, which services majority of Metro Manila’s water supply, is 180 meters.
But the level of water should be enough to service Manila’s water supply for the month, David said.
According to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report, some of the water in Angat Dam flows to Ipo Dam and then to La Mesa Dam in Quezon City, which provides 97 percent of Metro Manila’s water requirements, while the rest flow to Bustos Dam in Bulacan, which irrigates farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga.
The lowest water level of the dam is 157.56 meters in 2010.
The dropping water level of Angat dam comes amid the El Niño phenomenon that the country’s weather bureau Pagasa (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) expects to happen in June.
Pagasa said El Niño occurred due to unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific, affecting the normal rainfall pattern in the country. During El Niño, different parts of the country will experience varying amounts of rainfall, with some areas becoming dry.
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