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After the massive flooding in Cagayan, Isabela, Pampanga, Bulacan, Marikina, Rizal and other parts of the country when Typhoon Ulysses struck, it was easy for everyone to blame the dams for the worst flooding in Luzon since Typhoon Ondoy. In Cagayan and Isabela, for example, the Philippine Administration of Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services gave a powerful description of the action of the Magat dam: At its peak, the dam was releasing 6,706 cubic meters of water per second at its maximum. download. In a span of 11 hours, the dam released enough water to fill 106,223 Olympic-size pools, or roughly two pools per second.
In addition to the Magat dam, six other dams in various parts of Luzon – Angat, Ipo, La Mesa, Ambuklao, Binga and San Roque – caused the heavy flooding. Not surprisingly, some lawmakers are already eager to question officials from the agencies responsible for releasing water from these dams even before the floods have a chance to recede. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said he and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian would question the dam’s operators, including the National Energy Corporation (NPC) and the National Irrigation Administration, when their proposed budgets for 2021 would be discussed in plenary.
The Secretary of the Interior, Eduardo Año, proposes the establishment of standard protocols for the discharge of water from dams for a better preparation and response in times of calamities. He said local CEOs have raised concerns that the dam managers have different protocols on releasing water. Year said that standard protocols in times of calamities should be under the supervision of the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
The APN manages 22 dams across the country and conducts semi-annual inspections of the five main dams in Luzon and seven dams in Mindanao to ensure their integrity and the safety of people living downstream of the dams. The agency also practices efficient reservoir management with partner agencies to help conserve water while optimizing its use.
Around the world, dams are built for their potential benefits, which include water supply, electricity generation, flood control, recreation, and irrigation. When dams fill, they are designed to release excess water into the river system in which they are built, like the Cagayan River in the case of the Magat dam. The Cagayan River, known as Rio Grande de Cagayan, is the longest and largest river by volume of water discharge in the Philippines, with a total length of approximately 505 kilometers. The river has a drainage basin that covers 27,753 square kilometers and flows north to its mouth in the Babuyan Canal, near the town of Aparri. Given these facts, the province of Cagayán must be saved from the floods. Remember that Magat Dam only released enough water to fill 106,223 Olympic swimming pools. In the 1960s, the Cagayan River may hold more than the volume of water recently released by the Magat dam. However, sedimentation and government negligence wiped out the river.
Here’s what people need to know: Magat Dam is nearly 40 years old and hasn’t been improved in decades. The logging operations helped destroy watershed areas near the dam that could help prevent denudation. Magat Dam would have collapsed under the deluge of Typhoon Ulysses if the excess water had not been released. The result would have been catastrophic.
We hope the recent floods will finally bring about some real change.
