The rains from typhoon Egay and the enhanced southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” caused the water levels in eight major dams in Luzon to rise, based on the 24-hour rainfall monitoring of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
PAGASA said the water levels at Ipo Dam, Ambuklao Dam, and Binga Dam increased on Thursday morning, July 27 to 101.2 meters, 751 meters, and 574.63 meters, respectively.
These were significantly higher than the previous day’s record of 99.5 meters, 746.43 meters, and 568.52 meters, respectively.
PAGASA warned of possible flooding as the three dams were expected to release water on Thursday.
“The water level of Ipo Dam as of 8 a.m. is 101.2 meters and continuously rising due to the expected rains caused by the current weather system. With this development, Ipo Dam will conduct spilling operation, with one spilling gate to open at 11 a.m., with an initial discharge of 61 cms (cubic meters per second),” PAGASA said in a flood advisory.
It advised the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices, as well as residents living in low-lying areas and near the river banks of the Angat River in Norzagaray, Angat, San Rafael, Bustos, Baliuag, Pulilan, Plaridel, Calumpit, Paombong, and Hagonoy in Bulacan, to be on alert for a possible rise in the river’s level.
Ipo Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan (Photo courtesy of MWSS)
In a separate advisory, PAGASA warned that water discharge from Ambuklao Dam and Binga Dam, both in Benguet, may affect Barangay Ambuklao in Bokod town, as well as Barangays Dalupirip and Tinongdan in Itogon town.
Ambuklao Dam will have eight gates opened at 5 meters each, while Binga Dam will have six gates opened at 5.5 meters each.
The water discharge will be caught by the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan, which is part of a series of cascading dams that include the upstream Ambuklao and Binga Dams.
As the Pangasinan dam is still at a low water level, it may benefit from the water released by the Ambuklao and Binga dams.
As of Thursday, the water level at San Roque Dam was 247.13 meters, much lower than the 280-meter normal water level. Its previous day’s record was 238.25 meters.
Other dams
PAGASA said four other major dams also benefitted from the light to heavy rains brought on by Egay and the enhanced habagat.
Angat Dam’s water level slightly increased from 181.64 meters on Wednesday to 182.98 meters on Thursday.
Although it is already above the 180-meter minimum dam operating level, it is still much lower than the 210-meter normal high water level during the rainy season.
The Angat and Ipo dams are in Norzagaray, Bulacan.
La Mesa Dam in Quezon City and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija also saw a slight rise in water levels from 79.14 meters to 79.23 meters, and from 183.63 meters to 184.11 meters, respectively.
Meanwhile, Isabela’s Magat Dam saw a notable rise in water level, from 165.39 meters to 169.32 meters.
Pantabangan and Magat dams remain significantly below their normal levels at 216 meters and 190 meters, respectively, while La Mesa Dam is near its spilling level of 80.15 meters.
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