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Friday, March 29, 2024

Angat Dam releasing more water to 2 concessionaires

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The National Water Resources Board, the government agency in charge of managing the water resources, said Thursday it approved the allocation of additional two cubic meters per second to water concessionaires in November.

“Due to the significant increase of more than eight meters in the water level in Angat Dam due to typhoon Lando, the NWRB board approved an allocation of 38 cubic meters per second for November from 36 cms this month,” said NWRB executive director Sevillo David Jr.

Angat Dam’s water level stood at 203.72 meters as of 6 a.m. Thursday, up from 194.23 meters on Oct. 17.

The dam’s water level, however, was still still 6.28-meter short of its normal high level of 210 meters.

“The approved allocation assures to provide sufficient water requirements of sectors involved in the Philippines’ hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November,” David said.

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David said the standby allocation of 10 cms for irrigation would be retained next month.

“Returning the 38 cms allocation for the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System may improve the state of water supply in Metro Manila,” David said.

Maynilad Water Services Inc. earlier suspended the regular off-peak water service interruptions in its concession area due to the increased water level in Angat.

Maynilad said following the suspension, the company was able to sustain its water production output because of the volume of runoffs that flowed into the dams.

“But these runoffs will soon dwindle, and rains at the watershed may stop altogether given the current strong El Niño,” Maynilad said. 

“Maynilad will continue its water conservation measures by again reducing its water production output. But instead of water service interruptions, the company will implement pressure reduction,” Maynilad said.

Maynilad said beginning Oct. 24, it would reduce water pressure daily from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. for one month.  “This reduced pressure will affect 56 percent of our customers. These are the same customers who were affected by the previous service interruptions—i.e., those located in elevated areas or those farthest from our pumping stations,” Maynilad said. 

“Although pressure reduction will save less water compared to implementing service interruptions, the higher water elevation in Angat Dam has given Maynilad improved confidence that it can take this less drastic conservation measure so that inconvenience to its customers can be minimized,” Maynilad said. 

Manila Water Company Inc. corporate communications head Jeric Sevilla Jr. said despite the additional allocation, the company would continue to implement the reduced water pressure in the East zone.

“While we are able to get a reprieve because of the rains from Lando, we cannot be complacent as the current Angat level is still about 9 meters below the targeted 212 meters yearend level; hence, we will continue to implement the pressure reduction daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.,” Sevilla said.

Sevilla said the additional 2 cms was just returning to the previous September allocation of 38 cms when the company started implementing the daily 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. pressure reduction scheme.

“We will continue to implement this scheme even if allocation is reverted to 38 cms,” Sevilla said.

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