Metro water supply  assured through August

National Water Resources Board (NWRB) executive director Ramon Alikpala announced yesterday that it would not have to cut off water supply to Metro Manila by Aug. 16, as earlier planned, following the rise of the Angat Dam’s water level to 181 meters.

He told reporters that the NWRB could assure normal water supply to Metro Manila at least up to August this year.

Alikpala cautioned though that the continued water supply for the rest of the year would depend on the continued arrival of rain and the end of the dry season.

The three days of rain brought about by tropical storms Chedeng and Dodong, Alikpala said, was enough to raise Angat Dam’s water from the near-critical level of 171 meters to the more comfortable level of 181 meters.

The 181-meter level, Alikpala clarified, was achieved through a combination of additional rain inflow and the NWRB’s decision to limit the release of water to households and farmlands.

With the Angat Dam’s water level now at 181 meters, Alikpala said the NWRB would now be able to release at least 25 meters, or even slightly higher, for much-needed irrigation to farmers n Pampanga and the rest of Central Luzon which has been experiencing a drought.

The release of irrigation water, Alikpala said, would allow farmers to grow their current crop. However, Alikpala said, the NWRB still has to carefully calibrate its release depending on the continued arrival of much-needed rain.

The Philippine Atmospheric and Geological Services Agency or PAGASA, Alikpala said, has not yet definitely confirmed if the dry spell is over.

Alikpala said the 181-meter level of the Angat Dam is still not enough to allow the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to run its hydroelectric generators to produce power. He said it is the bare minimum allowed Napocor, but should the power firm operate its generators, the machines could take in air that would cause the generators’ turbines to break down.

He said more rain is needed to bring up Angat Dam’s water level to its normal 212 meters. Angat’s critical level is 165 meters. – With Katherine Adraneda