Water supply in Angat Dam still going down

The water level at Angat Dam in Bulacan continued to drop below alarming levels on Monday, prompting authorities to issue a fresh warning that rationing for consumers was increasingly becoming a possible scenario. Radio station dzBB said the National Water Resources Board recorded the water level at Angat Dam, which supplies water for Metro Manila and adjacent provinces, at a low 170.63 meters above sea level as of 2 p.m. today (Monday). The figure was nearly 10 meters below Angat Dam's critical mark of 180 meters. Last July 30, the dam's water level was pegged at 172.14 meters. The development comes amid cloud-seeding efforts by the government, which costs P100,000 per operation. NWRB executive director Ramon Alikpala was quoted Monday as saying that the trend in Angat Dam gave a more compelling reason to consider a water supply reduction starting August 15. He maintained that three storms were needed to raise Angat's water level. Tropical storm "Chedeng" already entered the Philippine area of responsibility early Monday, but was on course for Taiwan. However, it may enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains to western Luzon by Tuesday evening at the earliest. In an earlier interview, Alikpala said in Filipino that, "We will need at least three more typhoons just to get Angat Dam's water level back to normal." However, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) recently said most of the expected typhoons would most likely come next month. At least two other typhoons had entered the Philippine area of responsibility, but veered away and "spared" the country. The continued dry spell prompted the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System to study a cutback in water service during "non-peak" hours, or between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. MWSS administrator Lorenzo Jamora said Saturday they hope the cutback schedule will not amount to more than "a little inconvenience." - GMANews.TV