Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Although the government officially declared Tuesday (June 23) as the start of the rainy season, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) expects a further drop in Angat Dam’s water level over the next few days unless strong rains fall over the dam.
Related: Rainy season officially starts – PAGASA
In separate interviews with CNN Philippines, Metro Manila’s two major water providers have ruled out water rationing for now. They have assured that Metro Manila still has enough water supply.
Angat dam supplies about 97% of the metropolis’ water.
“As of this moment, we are still receiving 43 cubic meters per second (cms) of water from Angat Dam. So right now, there will be no effect,” Ronaldo Padua, Maynilad’s head of water supply operation said.
However, Manila Water head of corporate communications Jeric Sevilla noted that the water supply may be reduced, should the dam’s water level continue to decline.
“We may have to reduce pressure or supply during the hours in the morning,” he said.
Maynilad provides water and wastewater services to the west zone of Metro Manila, while Manila Water covers the east zone.
Contingency plans
In case of a reduction, Padua said Maynilad’s customers in portions of Valenzuela, Malabon, and Quezon City may be affected by rationing.
But the company assured its customers that contingency plans are ready should the NWRB decrease water allocation.
“We’ve been experiencing this in the past so what we have been doing is that we have installed many product water reservoir in our distillation network. We’ve been installing a lot of pump stations, we’ve been preparing many leaks to reduce losses in our network,” Padua explained.
Ayala-led Manila Water also assured that it has plans in place. However, it is worried that the El Niño phenomenon could last until the end of the year.
“What would probably be worrisome at this point is water supply for next year given the pronouncement of PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) that El Niño may persist up to the end of year or even during the first few months of next year,” Sevilla said.
He added that the company has also intensified its leak repair programs to lower system loss.
Other than Angat Dam, Sevilla said the company also has La Mesa Dam as a storage reservoir.
For his part, NWRB Executive Director Sevillo David said that it will take two to three typhoons to restore Angat Dam’s water level to the minimum of 180 meters. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday (June 24), PAGASA figures revealed that the dam’s water level stood 172.04 meters above sea level.
Related: Angat Dam’s water level still receding
The NWRB said it may cut allocation for Metro Manila by 2 cms in July to conserve water.
