Angat Dam water level dips below critical
Angel Movido, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Apr 28 2019 12:18 PM | Updated as of Apr 29 2019 08:31 AM
The water intake platform becomes visible as the water level at Angat Dam breaches critical level at 179.97 masl on Sunday. Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News
MANILA -- Angat Dam's water level has dipped below critical, the state weather bureau said Sunday.
As of 6 a.m., the dam's water level was at 179.97 meters, below the 180-meter minimum level required for normal operations, according to data from PAGASA.
Angat Dam supplies water to Metro Manila and Central Luzon.
The dam's declining level, lack of rains due to El Niño, and high demand had been blamed for a water supply outage that brought misery to more than a million households in Metro Manila in March.
The dam's critical level will not affect water supply as regulators will prioritize distribution for domestic use, said PAGASA Hydrologist Aileen Abelardo.
The National Water Resources Board maintained the normal water allocation level for May, said Maynilad Spokesperson Jen Rufo, adding that "we don’t see any supply crunch" for the west zone of the capital.
"Any service interruptions that may occur in succeeding days may only be a result of maintenance works or emergency repairs,” she said in a text message.
March's service outage affected some 1.2 million households in the east zone of Metro Manila, serviced by Ayala-led Manila Water
The west zone, under Maynilad Water Services Inc., was unaffected.
No storm is expected to form over Philippine waters until the month ends, PAGASA weather forecaster Meno Mendoza told radio DZMM.