Angat Dam water level continues to recede

NORZAGARAY, Bulacan — Government agencies are now worried as they brace for the onslaught of the severe dry season with the continuing drop in the water level of Angat Dam.

As of 8 a.m. yesterday, the water level of Angat Dam was at 180.28 meters, down from 180.46 meters last Friday evening.

It was lower than the normal operating level of 210-212 meters above sea level with a maximum capacity of 215 meters above sea level.

It was recalled that the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) announced

a few days ago that it will lower the irrigation water supply to farmlands in this province, as well as in Pampanga, on May 1 if the water level will breach the critical level of 180 meters.

Angat Dam supplies 97 percent of the domestic water needs in MetroManila, and is also the source of irrigation for 27,000 hectares of agricultural land in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.

Experts have identified that the looming water crisis as the result of the combination of rapid population growth, the pollution and destruction of freshwater resources, and climate change that affects the hydro-logical cycle and consequently the water availability.

Related to this, the provincial government of Bulacan has geared preparatory activities to alleviate the effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon that is expected to drastically damage the province’s agricultural production, Provincial Agriculture Officer Gloria Carillo said in a briefing of Bulacan farmers.

Carillo also relayed the recent message of Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado about the importance of water conservation encouraging the public to reduce water and electricity consumption as these two commodities would be the first to be affected by the prolonged drought caused by the weather occurrence.