CITY OF MALOLOS — Heavy rains enhanced by Typhoon Carina raised the water levels of Angat, Ipo, and Bustos Dams on July 24. Ipo and Bustos Dams have begun discharging water after reaching their spilling levels.

Records from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office of Bulacan showed that as of 2:00 PM yesterday, the water elevation of Angat Dam was at 179.40 meters (m), Ipo Dam at 102.18 m, and Bustos Dam at 17.41 m.

Angat Dam’s water elevation is 0.60 m below its minimum operating level of 180 m and is still 32.60 m below its normal high water level of 212 m.

Ipo Dam’s water elevation has breached its spilling level of 101.00 m, while Bustos Dam’s water level has surpassed its spilling level of 17.35 m.

Due to these developments, Ipo and Bustos Dams have begun discharging excess water from their reservoirs.

Josephine Salazar, National Irrigation Administrator Central Luzon Regional Director, confirmed that as of noon yesterday, Bustos Dam had started releasing 208 cubic meters per second (cms) of water, up from 39 cms earlier at 6:00 AM. This increase was due to the water release from Ipo Dam, which totaled 344.49 cms as of noon yesterday, when its water elevation reached 102.30 m.

Salazar stated that as of 1:30 PM yesterday, Bustos Dam’s Sluice Gates 1 and 2, both of which were raised earlier to three meters each, were closed. Instead, the dam’s Rubber Gate No. 3 was deflated, discharging 525 cms, and Sluice Gate No. 3 remained open, discharging 70 cms. This resulted in a total water release of 595 cms into its downstream river system.

Before releasing the water from Bustos Dam, Placida Cordero, NIA Bulacan Provincial Manager, said they had already advised concerned local government units and the PDRRMO of the volume of water that would be released.

📷 Mon Lazaro