SAN MANUEL–Easier said than done.

Tommy Valdez, vice president for corporate social responsibility of the San Roque Power Corporation (SRPC), said this in response to the clamor for the decommissioning of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam Project by the government.

“Decommissioning is more expensive than looking at the things we can undertake,” said Valdez, pointing out that the San Roque Dam is not only for power generation but also for flood control and a facility that provides clear water.

The irrigation component of San Roque has yet to be harnessed but the construction of a 300×300 meter, 12-meter deep re-regulating pond below the dam already broke ground last week.

SRPC is the company created by a consortium led by Marubeni Corporation that now operates the dam under a 25-year build-operate-transfer agreement starting 2003.

“The government could always decide to do this (decommissioning of San Roque Dam). They could always buy us out. There is no problem with that since we have a good track record in Manila,” said Valdez.

San Roque Dam, the highest rock-fill dam in southeast Asia and the second highest in Asia at 295 above sea level, generates 345 megawatts of power for the Luzon Grid by impounding water from upstream of the Agno River where two older hydro-electric dams — the Ambuklao and Binga — are located.

Calls for the decommissioning of San Roque Dam intensified after the massive flood that submerged 34 towns and three cities in Pangasinan in early October when Typhoon Pepeng hit Northern Luzon.

Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. of Urdaneta City, one of the affected areas, raised the proposition in the aftermath of the October flood.

Perez said that in case of a dam break, the flood in his city will be as high as a nine-storey building and about three stories high in Dagupan, Binmaley and Lingayen.

Valdez, however, countered that a dam break is highly unlikely because the project was built using the most advanced technology available.

Ray Mariano, facilities engineer of SRPC, said a dam break is a remote possibility and can only occur when there is overtopping of the water, and when there is an earthquake of more than 7.8 magnitudes near it.

Officials of Dagupan City have expressed fears because the dam is near the San Manuel Fault and the Digdig Fault in adjacent Nueva Ecija.

Valdez assured officials of Dagupan City led by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez who visited San Roque on Monday last week that the facility is safe.

Mariano said the SRDMP was built stronger than the Pantabangan Dam, which was undamaged during the July 16, 1990 earthquake of 7.4 magnitudes despite its proximity to Digdig Fault that moved at that time.

SRPC, nonetheless, said a protocol for an emergency situation is in place in case of a dam break, identifying areas in Pangasinan that would be directly affected by flood, and areas where people can evacuate.—LM

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