By US News Agency / Asian

Even if the water elevation at Angat Dam in this province is still way below the 180-meter critical level, the National Water Resources Board NWRB) has allowed the release of irrigation water for farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga.

Engineer Rodolfo German, general manager of the Angat River Hydroelectric Power Plant (ARHEPP) of the National Power Corporation (Napocor), said on Thursday that the water was released from the spill gates of Ipo Dam which flowed to the Bustos Afterbay Regulatory Dam and then snaked through irrigation canals of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

The water allocation, however, will be good only for 10 days.

Farmers in Bulacan and Pampanga said the allocation will not be sufficient enough for their crops.

The NWRB agreed to allow the release of irrigation water despite the still critical water supply at Angat Dam after Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy Alvarado and Pampanga Rep. Ana York Bondoc met with officials of Napocor, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and representatives of farmers groups in Bulacan and Pampanga.

Alvarado and Bondoc said that palay planted last June and July will be severely damaged due to lack of irrigation water.

The two Central Luzon officials also pointed out that farmers in Bulacan and Pampanga are still reeling from their losses last year when typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” ravaged many parts of Luzon.

After the meeting, German said ARHEPP released two cubic meters per second of water which flowed from two by-pass tunnels or low level outlets.

As of 8 a.m. Thursday, the water elevation at Angat Dam was 175.44 meters above sea level, still more or less five meters below its critical level of 180 meters.

Napocor officials said that water allocations for irrigation purposes are normally being released when the water elevation is over the critical level of 180 meters.