NIA resumes irrigation of CL farmlands

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines – After cutting off irrigation supply to some 100,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Central Luzon for over a month, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA)’s Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems has reopened the intake gates of the Pantabangan Dam to release water to its service areas.

Josephine Salazar, UPRIIS operations manager, said they released water on May 30 at the onset of the wet cropping season.

Last April 28, the UPRIIS stopped releasing water as the dry cropping season ended.

UPRIIS has programmed for irrigation 114,026 hectares for the twin cropping seasons, up by 2,772 hectares from last year’s 111,254 hectares.

Salazar said the water supply has reached portions of 28 municipalities and three cities under the dam’s service area. She said the resumption of water supply came two days earlier than its expected June 1 schedule.

Cristino Castillo, chief of the UPRIIS’ dam and reservoir division, said they released water at a rate of 40 cubic meters (cms) per second on Sunday and at 60 cms yesterday.

As of yesterday, the water level at the dam was at 182.35 meters, way above the critical level of 171.5 meters and the critical level for power of 177 meters, but way below the spilling level of 221.