UPRIIS officials led by engineering andoperations division manager Vivencia dela Cruz inpreparation for cloud seeding operations. Contributed photo
CABANATUAN CITY – Some 100 farmers and irrigation officials have been commissioned as cloud spotters for cloud seeding operation to boost the Pantabangan Dam water reserve.
As of Saturday, Sept. 11, the water level of Pantabangan Dam was at 182 meters above sea level, way below the 201 masl at the start of September last year, and the 210 masl by end-October target, according to Engr. Rosalinda Bote, department manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS).
“We organized almost 100 cloud spotters within NuevaEcija,” Bote said, explaining that the spotters take real time photos of clouds in their respective areas through GPS-enhanced phones.
The photos are sent to the Bureau of Soils and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture for assessment and prioritization.
Bote said NIA administrator Ricardo Visaya has issued a green light to the activity to induce rains over the Pantabangan reservoir or watershed in preparation for the dry crop season of 2021.
The agency initially allocated P2.64 million from its calamity fund for the cloud seeding activity with NIA procuring an initial supply of 900 bags of salt.
The carrier had conducted a familiarization flight over the area, Bote said.
“Ito namang wet season so far ay makakaraos naman, at the same ay may umaani na,” Bote noted, addingthat almost 4,000 hectares of rice fields have already been harvested.
But they continue minimal release of irrigation water even as most crops have already passed reproductive stage, she added.
Per advice from the weather bureau PAGASA, the agency expects slight La Niña from October this year to January 2021.
But the scarcity of rains in the last months made them running for induced water to make sure they can irrigate the entirety of 140,000 hectares service area come summer.
For his part, Agriculture Sec. William Dar has said that cloudseeding will ensure a “respectable rice harvest in Central Luzon, particularly in Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan, and Tarlac.”
“For this joint effort, we thank the NIA, Civil Aviation Authority, and the Philippine Army’s Fort Magsaysay,” noted BSWM director Sonia Salguero in her report to Dar.
