Water level is down in Luzon dams and farm lands in the nation's main island may fail to get enough water for irrigation, weather forecasters said Saturday. The water level in Luzon dams may surpass that during the 1997-98 drought if it does not rain soon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astrological Services Administration (Pagasa). Susan Espinueva, officer in charge of Pagasa's Hydrometreorolical Division, said the dams in Luzon could reach critical levels by March and April. “At these levels, the dams would be unable to supply water for irrigation and power generation,” she said. “For Magat Dam in Isabela, the most severely affected dam in the country, the water could drop below record levels in as [short a time] as a couple of days,” she added. The Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper said Magat Dam provides irrigation and hydroelectric power to Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and large parts of Isabela. Espinueva said that in 1998, the average water level of Magat was 160.5 meters as opposed to its normal level of 185.51 m. As of Friday, she said, the water level was 161.7 m. “The average decrease is .5 m a day, so we can reach levels below the 1998 average in just a couple of days if conditions don't change. That is very severe. Definitely, records will be broken,” she said. She added that water levels in the Angat, Binga and Pantabangan Dams were also declining. Nathaniel Santos, officer in charge of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), said the water level in Angat as of 6 A.M. Friday was 195.75 m, down from its normal level of 199.61 m. Angat provides irrigation to farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga and water to Metro Manila's 15 million residents. El Ni?o is the abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that leads to droughts and other extreme weather conditions. Espinueva said the phenomenon had reached its peak in the country but that conditions could normalize only after several months. “That is good news in a way but we would still feel the effects. There is always a lag time between improving conditions in the Pacific and conditions in our country. The worst is not yet over,” she said. Espinueva said that without rain, upland and low-lying areas around Magat Dam would get no water for irrigation in one week, respectively. “If there are no rains, massive cloud seeding is the only alternative,” she said. But Pagasa noted a rise in the water levels of Ipo, La Mesa and San Roque Dams Friday, Espinueva said. She attributed this development to “localized rain showers” in the past few days. As the dry spell continues, food shortage is feared as farmlands dry up. Rice paddies have reportedly turned barren in some provinces like Isabela, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur, Negros, and Davao del Sur. It has come to a point that some farmers have reportedly decided to stop planting to cut on losses. However, independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas III, who is an organic environmentalist, dispelled fears Saturday that the Philippines faces a food shortage due to drought. He said drought has become damaging to farmlands because the government has failed to educate farmers on proper ways to address it. He said El Nino should not be a problem as it is easier to address than La Nina which brings on devastating typhoons and floodings. “Typhoons are more devastating to crops than dry weather,” Perlas said. “During El Nino, the only thing that's important is irrigation. As a farmer I have already survived so many El Nino events with proper irrigation system and, at the same time, proper building up of soil fertility through organic approaches,” Perlas said. Increasing the organic-matter content of the soil, he explained, would increase the water absorption capacity of the soil and the plants' capacity to resist drought. Forecasters said temperatures in Metro Manila could rise to 37 degrees Celsius. “In Metro Manila, the weather could go up to 36 or 37 degrees. That is enough to feel very hot,” said Nathaniel Cruz, spokesman of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in a radio interview. He said the hottest temperature recorded in the country was in Tuguegarao in Cagayan province on April 29, 1912. On that day, the temperature there reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit or 42.2 degrees Celsius. Cruz explained that El Nino is actually ebbing in the Pacific Ocean but that its effects are only starting to be felt in the Philippines. “El Nino is in its final stages but the effects are being felt in the Philippines only now. In Luzon particularly, we are about to feel the lack of rain,” he said. He said the hottest days in the country will be felt in May this year.“Summer has not set in but the northeast monsoon has started to weaken. We expect the weather to get hotter in March and April, and especially hot in May,” he said. __
