Dam releases submerge 3 Bulacan towns; NWRB, K-Water urged to help ease flood

CALUMPIT, Bulacan – Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado yesterday called on the attention of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and K-Water which operates Angat Dam to work together with greater consideration in releasing water from the province’s three big dams as residents of low-lying towns like Calumpit, Hagonoy and Paombong bear the harsh consequences.

The Bulacan governor’s call came after residents of Barangays Gugo and Sapang Bayan in Calulmpit experienced last Monday night flooding of up to four feet high apparently due to the continued release of water from Bulacan dams.

“Floods have subsided throughout Bulacan and only the towns of Calumpit, Hagonoy, and Paombong remain submerged in floods. It’s because of the continued release of water from the dams,” barangay leaders in Calumpit told The Manila Bulletin.

“It seems we will have to contend with this flood for a long while. But we hope the National Water Resources Board and K-Water refrain from using their big turbine in generating electricity because the water flows at the back of Angat Dam to Bustos Dam and then right straight to our place,” another leader of Barangay Gugo said in Filipino.

The residents claimed that if only the auxiliary turbine is being used, the water will flow to Ipo Dam, which leads to the La Mesa Dam and not to Bustos Dam.

For his part, Alvarado urged the NWRB and K-Water to develop teamwork especially in releasing water from the three big dams with careful consideration of the effect on residents being flooded.

The governor also suggested the creation of more mini dams in Nueva Ecija and Candaba swamp in Pampanga to prevent flash floods in the coastal areas and make it a source of potable water and irrigation.