Enough water supply seen this summer

There are no expected water supply problems for Metro Manila, Rizal and Cavite as ample stock in Angat Dam allows for full allocation to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and even for irrigation needs even in these summer months.

Sevillo David Jr., executive director of the National Water Resources Board, told the Inquirer in an interview that supply was enough until the onset of the next rainy season.

David said as of 6 a.m. of March 31, water in Angat Dam was pegged at 206.32 meters above sea level (masl).

“This is more than nine meters higher than the level of the same time last year,” he said. “April allocation of MWSS is at 48 cubic meters per second (cms) and 25 cms for the National Irrigation Authority.”

Without the occurrence of the La Niña climate phenomenon, which brings above-normal rainfall to the Philippines, the level at Angat would be already below 200 masl at this time of the year.

Increased rainfall

“With the current level and allocation we have sufficient supply of water for the summer season,” David said.

Last month, American climate experts said La Niña was more likely than not to end in the next three months as indicators weakened and approached average.

La Niña, the opposite of El Niño, typically increases rainfall over Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, during October to February and even up to May.

The phenomenon is characterized mainly by lower-than-average sea surface temperatures especially in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean.

According to the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), which is under the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, SSTs returned to near average in the eastern Pacific Ocean in late January but was fluctuating in February.

The CPC also said the enhancement of rainfall around the Philippines and Indonesia was weaker in February compared to the previous few months.

The CPC said that based on data from observations made in February, the combined situation at the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere above it “is consistent with a weak or decaying La Niña.”

“There is about a 60 percent chance of a transition from La Niña to “neutral” during the Northern Hemisphere spring 2021 (April-June),” the CPC said. INQ