WHEN IN DROUGHT The potable water supply of more than 10 million residents in Metro Manila takes precedence over irrigation with the drop in Angat Dam鈥檚 water level, which fell further to 179.67 meters (inset). This has led to the stopping of the supply of water for the irrigation of some 27,000 hectares of farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga provinces. LEO M. SABANGAN II
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The water level in Angat Dam continues to fall below its critical level on Saturday, Manila Water Company said.
The water concessionaire said in its Twitter that the dam, which services majority of Metro Manila鈥檚 water supply, hit 178.53 meters as of 8 a.m. on Saturday, from 178.92 meters on Friday. The critical level is at 180 meters.
Manila Water services the east zone of the metro (Pasig, Taguig, Makati, Mandaluyong, Cubao & Balara inQuezon City, Marikina, San Juan and Antipolo-Rizal).
Meanwhile the water level in La Mesa dam hit 77.96 meters, from 78.08 meters.
Water level in Ipo dam dropped to 99.45 meters, from 99.42 meters.
<blockquote lang=鈥漞n鈥�><p>DAM LEVELS AS OF MAY 17 8AM ANGAT 178.53 LA MESA 77.96 IPO 99.45</p>— Manila Water (@ManilaWaterPH) <a href=鈥漢ttps://twitter.com/ManilaWaterPH/statuses/467469314807693312鈥�>May 17, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src=鈥�//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js鈥� charset=鈥漸tf-8鈥�></script>
<blockquote lang=鈥漞n鈥�><p>DAM LEVELS AS OF MAY 16 8AM: ANGAT=178.92 LA MESA=78.08 IPO=99.42</p>— Manila Water (@ManilaWaterPH) <a href=鈥漢ttps://twitter.com/ManilaWaterPH/statuses/467097563716272128鈥�>May 16, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src=鈥�//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js鈥� charset=鈥漸tf-8鈥�></script>
Some of the water in Angat Dam flows to Ipo Dam and then to La Mesa Dam in Quezon City, providing 97 percent of Metro Manila鈥檚 water requirements, while the rest flow to Bustos Dam in Bulacan, irrigating the farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga.
The lowest water level of Angat dam is 157.56 meters in 2010.
As the water level in major dam drops, Maynilad, which services the west zone of Metro Manila, has announced water interruptions in their areas of concession.
The receding water level of Angat dam comes amid the El Ni帽o phenomenon that the country鈥檚 weather bureau Pagasa (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) expects to happen in June.
Pagasa said El Ni帽o occurred due to unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific, affecting the normal rainfall pattern in the country. During El Ni帽o, different parts of the country will experience varying amounts of rainfall, with some areas becoming dry.
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