Magat Dam hits critical level

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela, Philippines – The water level in Magat Dam is nearing critical level due to rains since last month.

As of yesterday, the National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-MARIIS) said the dam’s water elevation along the Isabela-Ifugao border was within the spilling level of 192.45 meters or less than a meter of the 193-meter critical level.

Wilfredo Gloria, NIA-MARIIS operations manager, said to prevent damage to the multimillion-peso power and irrigation facility, one of the dam’s spillway gates has been opened since Saturday to release water.

“Heavy rains over the dam’s watershed in the provinces of Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya contributed to the rise in the water level. The dam management has been releasing water for three days now to avoid reaching the spilling level,” Gloria said.

He said the dam’s water inflow at 423.47 cubic meters per second was faster than its outflow, which is only 396.14 cmps.

The Magat Dam, located along the boundary of Alfonso Lista town in Ifugao and Ramon in Isabela, has been the source of irrigation for at least 80,000 hectares of farmlands in Isabela and parts of Cagayan and Quirino.

The dam’s power facility, which is owned and operated by the SN Aboitiz Power, contributes 360 megawatts of power to the Luzon grid. – With Raymund Catindig