Inday fails to raise Angat water level

MALOLOS, Bulacan, Philippines — Heavy rain spawned by Typhoon Inday and the southwest monsoon over the weekend did not improve the water level in Angat Dam.

Records from the Bulacan disaster risk reduction and management office showed that as of 11 a.m. yesterday, the water level in Angat was 156.07 meters or 29 centimeters below the previous day’s 156.36 meters.

Angat is the primary source of potable water for Metro Manila households, and supplies irrigation water to around 25,000 hectares of palay farms in Bulacan and Pampanga.

Since the dam dipped below its critical level of 160 meters on July 7, the elevation has remained lower than the lowest recorded level of 157.56 meters logged on July 18, 2010.

The National Water Resources Board has reduced the water allocation for Metro Manila, while dam operators halted irrigation supply for palay farms in Central Luzon to temper the drop in the water level in Angat.

Meanwhile, the elevation in Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela dipped to its minimum operating level of 160 meters yeaterday, according to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

The low water level will not only affect local fishermen, but also farmers and hydropower plants, dam operators said.

The NIA-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System said the receding water level has resulted in fish kill incidents in Aguinaldo, Ifugao and Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya  as well as in Ramon and Cordon, Isabela.

Magat generates 350 megawatts of power for the Luzon grid as well as provides irrigation water to 96,000 hectares of palay farms in Isabela, Cagayan and Quirino.

Agriculture officials in Cagayan Valley said cloud- seeding would be conducted over the Magat watershed starting this month until September, depending on the availability of seedable clouds. — Victor Martin