TOWNS ALONG AGNO RIVER REMAIN ON FLOOD ALERT

AUTHORITIES and residents of Pangasinan remain on alert for flooding despite a break from incessant rains last week as the San Roque Dam in San Manuel town opened two spillway gates, the first on July 30 at 4 p.m. and the second on July 31 at 10 p.m.

There were still no reports of any impact of the water release as of the morning of August 1, an indication that both banks of the Agno River can still hold the additional volume of water being discharged from the dam.

Meanwhile, lowland communities located on the banks of the lower stream of the Agno River, from San Manuel to Bayambang, continue to keep watch. These include the towns of San Nicolas, Asingan, Tayug, Sta. Maria, Villasis, Rosales, Sto. Tomas, Alcala, and Bautista.

Before releasing water, the National Power Corporation issued sufficient notices to residents of downstream communities of the Agno River to be on alert.

Opened at one meter each were Spillway Gate Numbers 2A and 2B, which were both discharging 313 cubic meters per second (cms) of wate

When the first gate was opened, it only released 256 cms of water, much lower than the 724 cms that Ambuklao Dam has been releasing to Binga Dam with its eight gates opened.

Binga Dam was then releasing 570 cms to the biggest dam of the three, the San Roque Dam, coming out from its six open gates.

The San Roque Dam – the largest rock-filled dam in Southeast Asia, second largest in Asia, and 16th largest in the world – impounds water from the Agno River basins for power generation.

The volume of water at the San Roque reservoir increased by more than one meter in just 24 hours from 281.03 meters above sea level (masl) on July 31, which is above the normal high water level of 280 masl. (Leonardo Micua)

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