MANILA – Metro Manila is in the grip of an acute water shortage due to the alarming decrease in the water level of the dam that provides 97 percent of its supply, officials have warned.
Officials explained the decrease is due mainly to the effects of the “El Nino†weather phenomenon highlighted by lack of rainfall and the resulting prolonged dry spell whose adverse impact is also being felt in some parts of the country.
El Nino’s effects are such that as of 8 am Thursday, officials said the water level at the Angat Dam stood at 201.08 meters above sea level (masl), or just 20 meters short of the critical level of 180 masl, officials said.
Angat Dam, located in neighboring Bulacan province in Central Luzon, provides 97 percent of the water needs of the estimated 12 million residents in the 16 cities and one town that compose Metro Manila.
The multipurpose dam also irrigates thousands of hectares of farmland in Central Luzon as well as help supply electricity to some parts of the country’s main island, including Metro Manila.
Ironically, officials noted the alarming decrease in Angat’s water level came just five months after two powerful typhoons – “Ondoy†(international codename Ketsana) and “Pepeng†(international codename Parma) – brought rains that inundated Northern, Central and Southern Luzon in late September and early October.
The two typhoons likewise forced the management of at least five dams in Luzon, including Angat, to release the impounded water to prevent an overflow, which experts said had worsened the floods in the affected areas.
And now comes El Nino whose arrival has been anticipated by the country’s weather experts who warned the long dry spell would adversely affect farm production and the water supply in certain areas.
In the case of Angat, Rodolfo German, the general manager of the dam’s hydroelectric power plant, reported that its water elevation continues to show an alarming decrease as he pointed out:
“We only had 204 meters at the start of the year. We should have had at least 210 meters at the beginning of 2010 to have enough water supply for Metro Manila and local farmers until the next wet season (starting in June).â€
For this reason, Macra Cruz, the deputy administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), announced they plan to cut the volume of water it withdraws from Angat by 13 percent in February.
However, Cruz also warned that if the dam’s water level continues to drop because of El Nino, the MWSS would later be forced to reduce its water supply from Angat by as much as 24 percent.
Records at the dam show that the lowest water level in Angat stood at 158.15 meters in 1998 when the country suffered a severe drought also caused by El Nino.
In Malacanang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the implementation of projects to cope with the water shortage, like completion of new dam projects as well as the repair and rehabilitation of existing similar facilities.
Ermita also reiterated Malacanang’s call for the public to cooperate in the campaign to conserve water and thus, help minimize the problem especially in the coming months when El Nino’s adverse impact is expected to worsen.
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