Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Experts described the aging Angat Dam as a “ticking time bomb,” which would collapse should there be a magnitude-7.2 quake caused by the West Valley Fault.
Huge portions of Metro Manila and Pampanga could be “wiped out” if the 47-year-old dam breaks, according to Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, as quoted by a Philippine News Agency report by Emil Gamos titled “Clamor to save aging Angat dam snowballs.”
New Zealand engineering consultancy firm Tonkin and Taylor, commissioned by the government, already gave recommendations on how to fortify the dam for the next 50 to 100 years, the governor said.
If action is not taken soon, Alvarado described the possible destruction as “unimaginable.”
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Rampaging water 30 meters high could have detrimental effects on nearby villages, he said.
The normal operating level of the dam, located at the highest slope of the mountains of Norzagaray in eastern Bulacan, is at 180 meters above sea level.
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Metro Manila would also have no access to potable water if the dam collapses as it supplies 97% of the region’s water needs.
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With fears over the structural integrity of the dam, officials of schools and barangays called out for its immediate rehabilitation and strengthening.
Some students also urged the Bulacan governor to raise the issue to the president.
Calls for the immediate repair of the dam were already raised back in 2008, according to Alvarado.
