Angat water level dips
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2019 09:35:07 +0000
After five days of continuous increase, the water level of Angat Dam slightly went down yesterday due to the absence of rainfall, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration said.
Data from the PAGASA Hydrometeorology Division said water level in Angat Dam was 161.69 meters as of 6 a.m. yesterday, down 17 centimeters from the 161.86 meters Thursday morning.
The current water elevation is still below the minimum operating level of 180 meters but is slightly above 160-meter critical level.
Oyi Pagulayan, PAGASA hydro-logist, said the continuous water supply and evaporation due to lack of rain contributed to the decrease in Angat’s water level.
“Although may mga pag-ulan, aside sa pagsusupply ng water, kasama rin na factor sa losses ay ang evaporation within the watershed,” Pagulayan said.
Angat Dam in Norzagaray is the major water source of households in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.
Water level in Angat hit critical level last June 20 due to lack of rains as the weak El Niño phenomenon continues to persist.
Water level in Angat Dam started to go up on June 30 due to monsoon rains enhanced by brought by tropical depression “Egay.”
Pagulayan said that it is too early to say if the level in the water reservoir will further decrease again as there are still localized thunderstorms that could bring additional supply to the watershed. (Alexandria San Juan)