Luzon dams release water

MANILA, Philippines — Three dams opened their gates yesterday following days of heavy monsoon rains enhanced by Typhoon Hanna and two other tropical cyclones outside the Philippine area of responsibility, according to data from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Both Binga Dam and Ambuklao Dam in Benguet as well as Ipo Dam in Bulacan have opened their floodgates to release water as the reservoir water level have approached their respective normal high water levels (NHWL) or spilling levels.

Binga Dam was a few meters away from its NHWL of 575 meters and had six gates open at three meters.

In Ambuklao Dam, four gates were opened at two meters as its reservoir water level reached 751.94 meters, nearing its high water level of 752 meters.

Ipo Dam, on the other hand, further opened one of its gates to 0.30 meters yesterday from 0.15 meters on Friday as its water level reached 100.95 meters, just shy of its high water level of 101 meters.

Meanwhile, Bustos Dam in Bulacan had three sluice gates raised, discharging a total of 132 CMS of water on its downstream river system for the third day yesterday, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) of Bulacan said.

As for the Angat Dam, monsoon rains raised the water elevation to over the 200-meter level, only 10 meters away from its high water level of 210 meters.

Records from the Bulacan PDRRMO showed that water elevation of Angat Dam as of 8 a.m. yesterday was at 200.59 meters compared to the previous day’s level of 199.23 meters.

Angat dam is the main source of potable water for Metro Manila residents, while Ipo dam diverts water from the Angat and Ipo Rivers into the La Mesa reservoir and Balara filtration plant.

Bustos Dam, on the other hand, supplies irrigation water to some 25,000 hectares of irrigated ricelands in Bulacan and parts of Pampanga.