Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 11) — The government is considering reducing dependence on Angat Dam as its water level continues to decline, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Tuesday.
\”One strategy is of course to diversify our sources of water and not to rely too much on Angat. So there have been a couple of efforts in the last few months,\” DENR Undersecretary Carlos David said in a press briefing.
Angat Dam supplies raw water to Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan.
The dam’s water level further declined to 178.8 meters as of Tuesday morning, according to the state weather bureau’s daily monitoring. This is below its minimum operating level of 180 meters.
The DENR said the Kaliwa Dam project of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, which is expected to be fully operational by 2026, could be another water source especially during El Niño.
\”Ika-count natin na medium term yung ginagawang Kaliwa Dam ng MWSS, which should be online sometime in 2026, worst case scenario [in] 2027, that will provide us ample water even during El Niño events,\” said David.
The agency added that there are also short-term strategies being done by other institutions to have enough water supply.
\”More recently, we now tap water from Laguna Lake,\” said David. \” Even more recent are efforts by Maynilad to reprocess wastewater…those actually really go a long way in terms of increasing our supply.\”
Furthermore, the DENR encourages the public to conserve water such as by reusing rainwater for other chores.
Water concessionaires Maynilad Water Services, Inc. and Manila Water on Tuesday assured their customers that they are prepared in case allocation from the Angat Dam is further decreased from 48 cubic meters per second.
