The water level at Angat Dam increased to 191.6 meters above sea level (masl) as of Monday morning, but the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is keeping the allocation to Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System at 40 cubic meters per second.
This means that, while the water level at Angat is considerably higher than the minimum operating level of 180 masl, supply for households in Metro Manila, Rizal and Cavite is still below the normal 46 cubic meters per second.
“Ipo Dam has been getting local inflows (from rains that fell during the past few weeks), and that is why water services are regular,” NWRB executive director Sevillo David Jr. told the Inquirer.
“We continue to closely monitor the situation in Angat and other dams, to help us decide whether we can increase allocation to MWSS,” David said in an interview.
The NWRB hopes to see Angat, which supplies more than 90 percent of Metro Manila’s supply needs, holding at least 210 masl.
Ipo Dam, where raw water from Angat passes through toward the treatment plants of Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc., is at its maintaining level of 101 masl.
La Mesa Dam, which provides buffer supply to Manila Water at 78.59 masl, is within its normal operating range of 78 to 79 masl.
In a statement, Maynilad asked its customers to continue cooperating in the conservation of the “still limited supply.”
“Allocation to MWSS is still below normal because NWRB wants to see Angat Dam reach a water level of more than 210 masl by the end of this year to ensure adequate supply for the summer months of 2020,” Maynilad said.