San Roque dam water level low, prompts conservation

DAGUPAN CITY—THE San Roque Power Corp. (SRPC) has started conserving water at the San Roque Dam in San Manuel, Pangasinan, to continue generating power for the Luzon grid.

Tom Valdez, SRPC vice president for corporate social responsibility, said the dam’s water elevation as of 6 a.m. yesterday was 236.33 meters above sea level (masl). The dam has a normal high water level of 280 masl. This can reach 290 masl for its flood control component.

“This is relatively low because we are 4.5 meters below the rule curve. We have started conserving,” Valdez said in a text message sent to the INQUIRER.

But Valdez said the diminishing water level in the reservoir should not cause alarm because dam officials have measures in place to manage water use.

“About power, we have limited generation, which is expected during the dry months,” he said.

Valdez said Napocor has directed SRPC to generate power at peak hours, which is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

He said the lowest dam water level recorded was in 2007, a dry year, when water elevation went down to 225.42 masl. “Water level will start rising as soon as we get rains from typhoons,” Valdez said.

In Baguio City, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the operators of dams in Benguet and Isabela on Thursday said the intense summer heat has not affected the volume of water in the Ambuklao and Binga dams, both in Benguet, and Magat Dam in Isabela.

OCD records showed that the dams operated this month with little changes to the reservoirs’ water levels.

Michael Hosillos, vice president for corporate services SN Aboitiz Power Corp., said: “In fact, the water elevations of our dams [in Benguet and Isabela] are high this summer.”

This may be due to sporadic rainfall in the last few days, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Abner Villanueva, DENR Cordillera spokesperson, said he went with a team last week in inspecting forests in Ifugao and Benguet and confirmed that afternoon rains have kept the trees healthy despite the heat.

In Isabela, while farmers have noticed water levels in rivers and creeks receding due to the unusual heat, an official of Magat Dam said water at its reservoir was above its normal level as of Thursday.

Saturnino Tenedor, Magat Dam instrumentation section chief, said water level at Magat was 191.16 masl at 10 a.m. yesterday, still above its normal level of 189 masl.