MANILA -- Rains have eased the level of Angat Dam, the main water source of Metro Manila, but the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) on Tuesday said it will not yet increase the water allocation for the region, where taps have intermittently run dry.
Angat Dam's level inched up to 160.29 meters as of 6 a.m from Monday's 159.85 meters, according to state weather bureau PAGASA. The latest reading is slightly above the dam's 160-meter critical level.
The dam's declining level prompted regulators to slash the water supply allocation in Metro Manila to 3.1 billion liters per day from the normal 4 billion liters per day since May, said National Water Resources Board (NWRB) Executive Director Sevillo David Jr.
"Sa ngayon po, sa tingin natin mananatili muna ang kasalukuyang alokasyon na ibinibigay natin po para sa water supply sa Metro Manila sa kadahilanang hindi pa naman ho ganoon kataas ang level n'ya (Angat Dam)," he told radio DZMM.
(For now, we believe that the current allocation for the water supply in Metro Manila will stay because the level of Angat Dam is not yet that high.)
"Kailangan muna nating imonitor kung patuloy s'yang tataas," he added.
(We need to monitor if it will continue rising.)
Tropical depression Egay, which stirred monsoon rains in the past days, weakened late Monday into a low pressure area that later fizzled out, PAGASA weather specialist Meno Mendoza said.
The habagat or southwest monsoon, however, will continue bringing occasionally heavy rains that may trigger floods and landslides in Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Palawan and Mindoro provinces, he warned.
Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon will experience cloudy skies and scattered rains, he added.
DZMM, weather, weather top, Angat Dam, water supply, rains, PAGASA, NWRB, Sevillo David