Angat Dam water level continues to recede despite rains

By Manny Balbin

CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan – The water level in Angat Dam continues to drop amid the rains over the past few days.

Records from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) show that as of 8 a.m. Thursday, the Angat Dam’s water elevation is 176.86 meters, way below the normal high water level of 212.00 meters.

PDRRMO chief Liz Mungcal said the minimum operating level or critical level of Angat Dam is 180 meters.

Mungcal said the rains being experienced by the country right now are not enough to increase the water level in the dam.

This, despite the Angat Dam has not been releasing irrigation supply to Bulacan and parts of Pampanga rice lands in the last five days, she said.

Francisco Clara, chief of the water control and coordinating unit of Bustos Dam, in a text message, said Angat Dam has not been releasing irrigation allocation for Bustos since Sunday.

Clara said the National Irrigation Administration has been implementing the maximum utilization of rainfall for irrigation since there is zero release from Angat Dam.

Angat Dam is the main source of irrigation water for Bulacan and parts of Pampanga's irrigated rice lands and is being coursed through Bustos Dam for distribution.

It also supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila's potable water needs. (PNA)