CITY OF MALOLOS — Rains have slightly raised the water elevations of Angat and Bustos Dams in Bulacan as of Wednesday morning, while Ipo Dam’s water level receded minimally.

Records from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office of Bulacan showed that as of 8:00 AM yesterday, the water elevations of Angat and Bustos Dams were at 173.24 meters (m) and 17.44 m, compared to their previous day’s levels of 173.18 m and 17.33 m, respectively. Meanwhile, Ipo Dam’s water level receded from 99.87 m the previous day to 99.86 m yesterday.

Angat Dam supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water needs, contributes hydro power to the Luzon Grid, and provides irrigation supply to Bulacan and parts of Pampanga ricelands.

However, at its current water elevation, its water allocation is reserved only for the water needs of Metro Manila.

Currently, its water elevation is still 6.76 meters below Angat Dam’s minimum operating level of 180 meters and 38.76 meters below its normal high water level of 212.00 meters.

Meanwhile, the water elevation of Ipo Dam is 1.14 meters below its spilling level of 101.00 meters. This dam is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which channels water to the Balara filtration plant before being distributed to Metro Manila households.

On the other hand, Bustos Dam’s water elevation is slightly above its spilling level of 17.36 meters. However, a dam operator official confirmed that it has not yet released its excess water because they are reserving it for the irrigation of farmlands in Bulacan and parts of Pampanga.

Bustos Dam’s water elevation has risen due to increased local flow from its upstream river system and not from the irrigation allocation coming from Angat Dam.

Angat Dam’s irrigation allocation is usually stopped when its water elevation falls below 180 meters.

📷 Mon Lazaro