CABANATUAN CITY – Pantabangan Dam has been releasing water since Tuesday morning.
But nothing to worry about, according to Antonio Nangel, operations manager of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS) which manages the dam.
“It is meant to ease the water build-up at the dam’s reservoir so that it will not reach the spilling level,” Nangel said.
Nangel said the dam’s spilling level is at 221 meters.
On Tuesday, the water release was from 50 to 100 cubic meters per second. The dam’s level at that time was 219.5 meters.
On Wednesday, however, the water release was at 180 cubic meters per second.
“The inflow had increased so we had to increase the volume to be released,” Carlito Gapasin, chief of the engineering and operations division of UPRIIS, said.
The water level in the reservoir reached 219.8 meters Wednesday afternoon.
Nangel and Gapasin said that no residential areas nor rice fields in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan would be affected by the water release.
“It is just a precaution in case the brewing typhoon will dump more rains, “ Nangel said.
Nangel said the inflow of water to the dam due to the intermittent rains brought by Typhoon Ondoy in the northern part of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya was at 350 to 400 cubic meters per second.
He explained that a river in Nueva Vizcaya is contributing to the dam’s supply thru a 26 kilometer tunnel put up by the Casecnan project.
Nangel’s assurance that no residential areas and rice fields would be affected by the water release allayed the fears of Novo Ecijanos who have been alarmed by reports that big volume of water would be released from the dam. They feared that they their areas would be flooded and thus would endanger their lives and properties.
Worrying much now are the rice farmers whose rice crops are either in reproductive stage or about to be harvested. Additional water in their rice fields would cause reduction in expected high harvest.
The rice lands this cropping season in Nueva Ecija totaled to 187,000 hectares, it was learned.
The UPRIIS officials said the water releases from Pantabangan Dam are emptying into the two diversion canals and the Pampanga River and then into the Manila Bay.
Meanwhile, the action center of the Department of Agriculture said that because of the previous typhoons, Zambales suffered reduction in expected rice harvest at 4.52 percent.
The DA report said that Pampanga suffered reduction of rice harvest at 1.77 %; Bataan, 1.03%; Tarlac, 1.03 percent; and Aurora, 1.48%. Nueva Ecija’s reduction in expected harvest was placed at less than one per cent.
But nothing to worry about, according to Antonio Nangel, operations manager of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (UPRIIS) which manages the dam.
“It is meant to ease the water build-up at the dam’s reservoir so that it will not reach the spilling level,” Nangel said.
Nangel said the dam’s spilling level is at 221 meters.
On Tuesday, the water release was from 50 to 100 cubic meters per second. The dam’s level at that time was 219.5 meters.
On Wednesday, however, the water release was at 180 cubic meters per second.
“The inflow had increased so we had to increase the volume to be released,” Carlito Gapasin, chief of the engineering and operations division of UPRIIS, said.
The water level in the reservoir reached 219.8 meters Wednesday afternoon.
Nangel and Gapasin said that no residential areas nor rice fields in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan would be affected by the water release.
“It is just a precaution in case the brewing typhoon will dump more rains, “ Nangel said.
Nangel said the inflow of water to the dam due to the intermittent rains brought by Typhoon Ondoy in the northern part of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya was at 350 to 400 cubic meters per second.
He explained that a river in Nueva Vizcaya is contributing to the dam’s supply thru a 26 kilometer tunnel put up by the Casecnan project.
Nangel’s assurance that no residential areas and rice fields would be affected by the water release allayed the fears of Novo Ecijanos who have been alarmed by reports that big volume of water would be released from the dam. They feared that they their areas would be flooded and thus would endanger their lives and properties.
Worrying much now are the rice farmers whose rice crops are either in reproductive stage or about to be harvested. Additional water in their rice fields would cause reduction in expected high harvest.
The rice lands this cropping season in Nueva Ecija totaled to 187,000 hectares, it was learned.
The UPRIIS officials said the water releases from Pantabangan Dam are emptying into the two diversion canals and the Pampanga River and then into the Manila Bay.
Meanwhile, the action center of the Department of Agriculture said that because of the previous typhoons, Zambales suffered reduction in expected rice harvest at 4.52 percent.
The DA report said that Pampanga suffered reduction of rice harvest at 1.77 %; Bataan, 1.03%; Tarlac, 1.03 percent; and Aurora, 1.48%. Nueva Ecija’s reduction in expected harvest was placed at less than one per cent.
