The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said Thursday the reduced water allocation from Angat Dam will not affect supply in Manila or result in service interruptions.

In an interview with dzBB, MWSS Division Manager and spokesperson Patrick Dizon said they requested the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) to lessen their water allocation from Angat Dam from 48 cubic meters per second (cms) to 39 cms because rains from the enhanced southwest monsoon during the past few days have helped raise water levels.

“This reduction in water allocations will not affect the customers of Maynilad and Manila Water. Until now, the water interruptions are still suspended except for those involving regular maintenance activities,” Dizon said.

Dizon said this was part of their preventive measures to keep Ipo and La Mesa dams from spilling water to downstream rivers.

“We started the reduction of water allocation last Saturday because our reservoirs in Ipo Dam and La Mesa Dam receive too much water from the rains. This is part of our preventive measures and our dam operations protocol that is done in preparation for the coming rains and typhoons,” he said.

“We are doing this to lower the water level in our reservoir in Ipo dam so we can have what we call a buffer or an extra container for water in the reservoir. If we don’t do this the reservoir might overflow and there could be a spill,” he added.

Based on data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the water level of Angat Dam is 190.96 meters, which is above the critical level. It is 99.80 meters for Ipo Dam and 79.16 meters for La Mesa Dam. Jaspearl Tan/DMS