Angat Dam water level still rising; Ipo, Bustos reduce spillages

BUSTOS, Bulacan, Philippines — Heavy rainfall continued to fill up Angat Dam while Ipo and Bustos Dams minimized water releases yesterday.

As of 6 a.m., the water level in Angat Dam was monitored at 196.87 meters, more than a meter higher compared to the previous day’s 195.80 meters.

The water elevation is higher than its minimum operating level of 180 meters, but still 15.13 meters below its normal high water level of 212 meters.

On the other hand, Ipo Dam’s water level was at 101.7 meters yesterday as it reduced water releases.

The water level in Bustos Dam was at 16.54 meters, with only Sluice Gates 1 and 2, which were raised at one meter each, and discharging 54 cubic meters per second (cms).

On Tuesday, three sluice gates of Bustos Dam were open and discharging 80 cms on its downstream river system.

Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando had blamed the sudden instead of gradual release of water from Bustos Dam, which was more than the 700 cms of water, for massive flooding in several areas in Bulacan. Bulacan has been placed under a state of calamity after 172 barangays in 16 towns and three cities were hit by flooding.

At a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, senators grilled officials of the National Irrigation Authority for not coordinating with concerned local government officials before releasing water from dams.

Committee chairman Sen. Francis Tolentino noted that officials of the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said they were not informed about the release of water from the dams on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who is pushing for the revival of the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone, said an integrated flood control program is needed to prevent widespread flooding in Bulacan.

Affected residents are blaming the airport project for the severe flooding. Salceda, however, claimed flooding worsened in Bulacan even before construction of the airport started.

Salceda said widespread fishpond development and subsidence due to excessive groundwater use are the main reasons for flooding in the area.

Salceda said flooding in Bulacan tends to get worse also because the province is “sandwiched” between two major flood control projects.

These are the Camanava flood control project and the Pampanga River Flood Control system. — Cecille Suerte Felipe