Rains dumped by past weather systems and the southwest monsoon raised the water level in Angat Dam above its 160-meter critical level yesterday morning.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration said water elevation in Angat Dam was 161.35 meters yesterday, higher than 160.16 meters Friday and 158.27 meters Thursday.
The water level of Angat Dam is still 18.65 meters below the 180-meter minimum operating water level needed to resume the irrigation supply allocation to surrounding provinces. The Angat Dam is also the major water source of households in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.
Water levels in other major watersheds also increased – La Mesa Dam in Quezon City at 73.21 meters yesterday from 73.09 meters Friday; Ambuklao Dam in Benguet at 743.68 meters yesterday from 743.11 meters Friday; Binga Dam, also in Benguet, at 568.79 meters yesterday from 568.34 meters Friday; San Roque Dam in Agno, Pangasinan at 230.77 meters yesterday from 230.74 meters Friday; and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija at 189.18 meters yesterday from 189.02 meters the other day.
The National Water Resources Board had earlier said that monsoon rains and expected tropical cyclones this month are expected to replenish the water supply in Angat Dam.
Meanwhile, tropical depression “Goring” weakened into a low-pressure area before it exited the country Friday but the southwest monsoon or “habagat” will continue to bring rains in the country this weekend.
PAGASA weather specialist Meno Mendoza said monsoon rains will prevail in most parts of Luzon, particularly Batanes, Calayan, Babuyan Group of Islands, Ilocos region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Zambales, and Bataan.
The southwest monsoon will also bring partly cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.
The rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms. (Alexandria San Juan)