Angat, other dams’ water levels continue to rise

MANILA, Philippines — The water level of Angat Dam continues to rise from its minimum operating level following the rains brought by Typhoon Egay and the effects of approaching storm Falcon.

Records from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Bulacan showed that Angat Dam’s water elevation at 8 a.m. on July 30 was at 194.00 meters or 2.1 meters higher compared to its previous day level of 191.90 meters.

This is 18 meters below its normal high water level of 212 meters and is moving closer to a more stable water level for the coming months when El Niño is expected.

The effects of the incoming typhoon Falcon are expected to further raise the water elevation of Angat Dam.

On the other hand, Ipo Dam was still releasing a total of 47.20 cubic meters per second (CMS) of water yesterday morning to its downstream river which flows toward Bustos Dam, Josephine Salazar, regional director for Central Luzon of the National Irrigation Administration, told The STAR.

Meanwhile, Bustos Dam deflated its Rubber Gate No. 3 again, discharging 355 CMS of water to its downstream river system that slices through the towns of San Rafael, Bustos, Baliwag, Pulilan, Plaridel, Calumpit, Paombong and Hagonoy before flowing out to Manila Bay.

In a radio interview over dzBB, Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando blamed Bustos Dam for the floodwater in the towns on its downstream river system after it released more than 700 CMS of water.

The governor also pointed to the big volume of water from the San Jose del Monte river system as the culprit in the overflowing of the Bocaue River.

Motorists felt the brunt of the flood as it inundated a stretch of the North Luzon Expressway in Bulacan including parts of MacArthur Highway, which are both major thoroughfares.

Donna Marcelo, vice president of the communication and stakeholder management of NLEX Corp., said in a text message to The STAR: “Flooding was due to the overflow of the Bocaue River and the release of water from Ipo Dam (Saturday).”