Monsoon rains slightly elevate Angat Dam water level

MALOLOS, Philippines — Rains spawned by the northeast monsoon since Saturday have elevated the water level of Angat Dam by more than half a meter.

Monitoring by the provincial disaster risk reduction management office of Bulacan showed that the water level in Angat Dam was at 187.19 meters on Saturday, 187.67 meters on Sunday, 187.75 meters on Monday and 187.80 meters yesterday.

The dam’s water elevation yesterday was only 7.80 meters above its minimum operating level of 180 meters and 24.20 meters below the ideal end-of-the-year water level of 212 meters.

Earlier, National Water Resources Board (NWRB) executive director Sevillo David Jr. had earlier said cloud seeding operations over the Angat Dam watershed, the major source of potable water for Metro Manila residents, are being prepared by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System in consultation with the Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture and the  Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

The NWRB has cut down the water allocation for Metro Manila’s domestic consumption to 36 cubic meters per second when Angat Dam’s water elevation went down to its critical level of 160 meters, which eventually led to the rotational water service interruptions for Metro Manila residents.

It slightly increased to 40 cubic meters per second in September when the dam’s water elevation rose past the 180-meter minimum operating level.

David added that the normal water allocation coming from Angat Dam for Metro Manila water needs is 46 cubic meters per second or 4,000 million liters per day (mld).

Its current allocation is 40 cubic meters per second or 3,450 mld.

Tail-end of cold front

As this developed, the tail-end of a cold front is affecting Southern Luzon, PAGASA said yesterday.

Bicol region, Eastern Visayas and Quezon province will have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms due to the tail-end of a cold front.

Meanwhile, the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley will have cloudy skies with light rains brought about by the northeast monsoon.

“Metro Manila, Ilocos region and Central Luzon will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated light rains also due to the northeast monsoon,” the PAGASA bulletin indicated.

PAGASA added that the rest of the country would have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers because of localized thunderstorms.

The state weather bureau warned that  flash floods or landslides may occur during severe thunderstorms.

The coastal water condition in the northern and western sections of Northern Luzon will be strong.

For the rest of Luzon, coastal waters will be moderate to strong; in the Visayas and Mindanao, it will be slight to moderate. – With Rhodina Villanueva