CABANATUAN CITY – The service area of the National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS) was increased to over 111,000 hectares as water elevation in Pantabangan Dam was recorded at a record high of 217 meters.
“This is more than enough to sustain the irrigation requirement of dry cropping season,” said Josephine Salazar, NIA-UPRIIS operations manager.
She said that the current water level which is barely four meters short of the dam’s spilling level of 221 meters is even supplemented by other smaller reservoirs in the province.
“Our high water level has given us the opportunity of releasing water before the onset of the dry season,” Salazar said.
She added that at 217 meters, they can sustain the irrigation needs of up to 111,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Nueva Ecija and portions of Central Luzon. “With this water level now, farmers can afford a third cropping without experiencing drought.”
She also said that Novo Ecijano farmers are blessed with an abundance of water at the Pantabangan Dam unlike other areas which rely on run-off river water.
Pantabangan Dam, the largest among the country’s national irrigation systems that include the Magat and Angat Dams, has a maximum irrigation capacity of only 102,000 hectares.
However, this has been augmented by the construction of the Casecnan Dam which diverts irrigation water from the Casecnan and Taang rivers to the Pantabangan Dam through a 26-kilometer underground tunnel.
The abundance of water this cropping season immediately resulted to increase in service areas holds true to the Aquino administration’s food sufficiency program, she said.
Salazar said UPRIIS is also prioritizing the rehabilitation of irrigation canals damaged during typhoons Pedring and Quiel to fast-track water delivery schedule and make the tail-end portions receive irrigation water.
