CABANATUAN CITY – The water level of Pantabangan Dam is continuously, though slowly, rising but irrigation officials do not discount the possibility of requesting for cloud seeding over its watershed.
As of Sunday, the water level of Pantabangan dam was 182.10 meters above sea level, over 11 meters away from its critical level of 171.5 masl for irrigation and five meters above for 177 masl critical level for power generation purposes.
Engr. Josephine Salazar, operations manager of National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS), which operates the facility’s irrigation component said they have stopped releasing water from the dam as it’s already harvest season.
“Still no releases from Pantabangan Dam because the start of the water delivery for wet cropping season is June 1,” she said. The church in the old town which was submerged during the dam’s construction in 1971 has begun to appear.
Salazar, however, downplayed fears of severe shortage of irrigation since a 181 masl elevation of the dam is a “normal occurrence” at this time of the year. Salazar said she would request for the cloud seeding but only on “stand by in case there will be no rains in June.”
The Bureau of Soil and Water Management conducted cloud seeding operation over the watershed of Angat Dam on Friday. “Not immediate need,” Salazar said, noting that NIA-UPRIIS plays vital role in the government’s food self-sufficiency program.
UPRIIS has programmed for irrigation 114,026 hectares of riceland, up by 2,772 hectares from last year’s 111, 254 hectares.
