BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – The water level of Magat Dam is still below the normal level despite the rains in the past days.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said the water level was below the normal level of 175 meters as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
“Even with the recent heavy downpour upstream in Nueva Vizcaya dumping 35 millimeters rainfall in the last two days, the dam’s water level could only rise at 10 centimeters per hour,” Saturnino Tenedor, NIA instrumentation and forecasting officer, said.
The dam’s water level dropped to its lowest in three years at 160.46 meters last month, less than a meter above its minimum operational level to generate power at 160 meters.
The three-decade-old dam’s lowest water level of 149 meters was recorded in July 1991.
Besides generating 380 megawatts of power for the Luzon grid, the Magat Dam also irrigates at least 80,000 hectares of farmlands in Isabela and parts of Quirino and Cagayan.