A lawmaker has recently filed a resolution directing the House Committee on Agriculture and Food to inquire into the contingency plans of concerned government agencies in light of the declining Angat Dam water levels despite the onset of the
rainy season.
In House Resolution 2118, National Unity Party Rep. Gavino C. Pancho of Bulacan said his resolution seeks to ensure the continuous supply of energy and water to Metro Manila and adjacent areas and protect the welfare of farmers who rely on the dam for livelihood.
“There has been no declaration regarding a concrete program or course of action by cognizant agencies of our national government namely, the National Irrigation Authority, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the National Power Corp., and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to address and mitigate the impact of the dwindling water levels of the Angat Dam,” Pancho said.
Pancho, a vice chairman of the Committee on Cooperatives Development, said the continuous decline of Angat Dam’s water capacity below its minimum operating level will “severely affect” the supply of energy and 97 percent of Metro Manila’s domestic water needs.
He said the Angat Dam has been reported as close to below the 180-meter above sea minimum operating level due to lack of rain over the Bulacan watershed.
As a matter of policy of Angat Dam’s administrators, should the water reservoir go down below its minimum operating level, water releases for irrigation for some 27,000 hectares of farm lands in Central Luzon will be cut off as a precautionary measure from the dry spell triggered by the current El Niño phenomenon, according to the lawmaker.
“Stopping the water releases for irrigation will drastically affect the livelihood and welfare of the farmers and their families who are considered among the poorest and most vulnerable sector of our society,” Pancho said.
“The rapid increases in population and industrialization have negatively impacted on this important water resource, which, together with the effects brought about by climate change, longer droughts and intense weather events, have exacerbated the challenge of addressing the current and projected future water demand,” he added.
Angat River is the largest and most important source of water for the region because, through the Angat Dam, it supplies water for Metro Manila’s 12 million residents, provides irrigation water to 26, 791 hectares of farmlands in Pampanga and Bulacan provinces, flood control for downstream municipalities, and 10 percent of the country’s
hydroelectricity.