THE country’s seven major dams have been experiencing a decline in their water contents for lack of rainfall because of the El Niño phenomenon.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that the water levels in Bulacan’s Angat Dam dipped from 202.78 meters to 202.47 meters, Quezon City’s La Mesa from 75.96 meters to 75.92 meters, Benguet’s Ambuklao Dam from 747.49 meters to 747.36 meters, Pangasinan’s San Roque Dam from 238.53 meters to 238.26 meters, Nueva Ecija’s Pantabangan Dam from 182.09 meters to 181.80 meters, Isabela’s Magat Dam from 172 meters to 171.99 meters, and Laguna’s Caliraya Dam from 286.82 meters to 286.67 meters.
The supply of water at the reservoirs over the past two months has been declining on a daily average of 0.1 to 0.3 meters since January, PAGASA said.
Conversely, the water elevation increased in Bulacan’s Ipo Dam from 99.51 meters to 99.55 meters and Benguet’s Binga Dam from 569.72 meters to 569.82 meters.
The existing water levels of these dams were already below their respective normal high water levels (NHWL) amid the dry season and higher consumption of water.
Water shortages for drinking and irrigation have been reported in six barangays in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental since December 2023, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
At least 12 hospitals in Zamboanga City have inadequate water supply and were relying on rationing which is being implemented on the west coast and in the central areas of the city.
The total production loss and cost of damage in agriculture nationwide due to El Niño were estimated at more than P1.23 billion. Western Visayas reported the highest cost of agricultural damage with P678.7 million.
A total of 29, 409 farmers and fisherfolk as well as 26,731 hectares of crops across the country were affected by the dry spell.
Meanwhile, a state of calamity was declared in Bulalacao and Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro, Looc in Occidental Mindoro, and Zamboanga City in Zamboanga del Sur.
Financial assistance worth P426,061,272 has so far been provided to the affected individuals in MIMAROPA, the NDRRMC said.
PAGASA declared the start of the El Niño in July last year, characterized by the abnormal warming of sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean leading to below normal rainfall
The Department of Agriculture (DA) constantly monitoring the impact of the El Niño in the Bicol region through drones as farmers prayed for rain across several provinces to save their crops.
DA-Bicol spokesperson Lovella Garin said the drones were useful in providing real-time data in terms of damage assessment, farm planning, mapping, seeding, spraying and overall crop health analysis.
Garin reported that the prevailing cold and warm winds, as well as shear line in the region somehow provided temporary relief to farmers who were hard hit by the drought.
The drought was projected to impact more than 113,000 hectares of agricultural lands with high value crops such as rice and corn due to below normal rainfall conditions over the past two months.
In Cawayan, Masbate, some 1,120 hectares of rice lands were affected, mostly totally damaged or with no chance of recovery, while only 95 hectares are partially damaged.
Production loss was estimated at P70.6 million , affecting 730 farmers in the province.
In Albay, 425.4 hectares of farmlands dried up due to El Niño, according to Mayor Aldrin Salceda of Polangui town.
In a Facebook post, Salceda said four towns in the third district of Albay—the province’s rice granary—were wrestling with drought including Polangui, Libon, Oas, and Pio Duran.
Salceda said he has informed Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel about their situation in Albay.
Seeing that the drought could persist until the end of May, the DA allocated P725 million to mitigate the impact of El Niño to the affected Bicol farmers.
Guarin explained that P625 million of this budget would be channeled to the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) while P71.74 million would be earmarked for to DA-Bicol.
