Farmers warned of water cutoff

A VIEW of Angat Dam shows the source of irrigation that helps grow Bulacan and Pampanga food and provides drinking water to most of Metro Manila residents. CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

CITY OF MALOLOS—Farmers have been advised to prepare for what government officials said was a worst case scenario in the ongoing El Niño episode that is turning farms into parched wasteland—a shutdown in the supply of irrigation water.

Officials of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), an agency under the Department of Agriculture that oversees the country’s irrigation systems, said the supply of irrigation water to farms could be completely cut by middle of this month if water in Angat Dam, a key reservoir for irrigation and potable water in Bulacan, is not replenished.

The NIA has advised farmers to prepare for a total cut in irrigation supply or a sharp decline in water volume for farms in 17 Bulacan and four Pampanga towns that derive water from Angat Dam.

Gloria Carillo, Bulacan agriculture officer, said farmers have been advised to conserve water at a meeting of the province’s municipal agriculture and fishery councils (MAFC), she said.

Irrigation water continued to flow on Saturday, serving about 30,000 farmers, but Angat Dam also supplies 97 percent of the potable water requirements of Metro Manila.

In cases when the Angat reservoir level dips, priority is given to Manila’s drinking water supply, Carillo said.

Carillo said farmers have requested for a delay until the end of this month in the projected cutoff of water supply because crops are ready for harvest this month and early May.

On Saturday (April 2), water level in Angat Dam stood at 198.57 meters above sea level (masl). Angat Dam’s normal level is 212.00 masl.

Rains dumped by Typhoon “Nona” (international name: Melor) in December 2015 raised the water level to 200 masl. The level started to drop on March 26 to 200.03 masl and slid further to 199.83 on March 27.

Rodolfo German, deputy manager of the Korean Water Company which now owns and manages the Angat hydroelectric power plant, said this week’s reservoir level is still high compared to the level on April 1 last year, which was 195.33 masl.

Despite the dry spell and hot weather, the El Niño phenomenon should not directly affect Bulacan and Pampanga, according to the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

The towns of Bulacan, Calumpit and Bocaue receive water from the Angat Maasim River Irrigation System.

Ildefonso Canquin, president of the Bulacan MAFC, said farmers continue to receive 15 cubic meters per second (cms) of water, although they are prepared for a shutdown in irrigation by April 15.

To cope, Canquin said farmers have taken steps to manage water supply, including a routine cleanup of irrigation canals so that water can flow unobstructed to farms.

Carillo said the provincial government also distributed shallow tube wells and open surface pumps to augment the irrigation requirements of the farmers.

Carillo said the dry spell is projected to be stronger in March and April. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon