Release of water from Magat Dam continues as ‘Ramil’ nears

SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela - The Magat Dam in Ramon town in the northern province of Isabela continues to release water from its reservoir as precautionary measure to its structure and to prevent water overflow. Engr. Pelagio Gammad, Magat dam reservoir division manager, said the water discharge was necessary to maintain the safe water elevation of the dam. As opposed to a protocol followed by the San Roque Dam officials in Pangasinan that the water’s scheduled releases are decided by the National Power Corporation (Napocor), engineer Wilfredo Reyes, the dam’s operations manager, said they follow orders from the National Irrigation Administration. Aside from generating much-needed power supply to the Luzon grid, the dam was built purposely to improve on the existing Magat River Irrigation System (MARIS) and to triple rice production in the Cagayan River basin. “It’s up to the National Irrigation Administration NIA to decide how many gates will be opened, when to open it and how many (cubic) meters should be released. They are monitoring the inflow." He said. The reservoir has a maximum of 193 meters and normal level of 178.3 meters. Its critical level which is considered low is at 160 meters. Friday’s water level of 192 meters prompted NIA to order water discharge. Rain fall in Isabela during the week was at normal level but dam officials said the water they released were still run-offs of the rains that typhoon “Pepeng" dumped in the region, which were accumulated in the mountains of Nueva Vizcaya and Ifugao. Reyes also allayed the fears of residents in low lying areas of a water overflow, which could devastate some villages and farmlands, saying that they are working closely with NIA officials to assure the 100 percent maintenance of the dam and the safety of communities downstream. “We are deep into reforestation. This is the still the best way to extend the productive life span of our dams and prevent massive flooding like what happened in Pangasinan," he said. Consolidating with the Nordic region’s third largest power producer - SN Power, Aboitiz Equity Venture now called S/N Aboitiz, took over Magat Dam’s operations in 2007. It is a hydro electric power plant and used to be the largest dam in the country before San Roque Dam was built. It is, however, still the biggest power source generating a maximum of 360 megawatts. Despite operating for over 20 years, dam engineers said its structure is still in tip-top condition making it still economically viable for the next 50 years. On the other hand, NIA is planning to acquire more weather forecasting equipment including a doppler radar to better predict weather patterns, disturbances and average amount of rainfall. Meanwhile, fish pen owners at the dam’s reservoir took advantage of the calm weather to carry on with their livelihood. - GMANews.TV