NOT ENOUGH WATER. Pantabangan Dam, shown in photo, supplies the water requirements of farmlands, mostly in Nueva Ecija, as well as parts of Pampanga, Bulacan and Tarlac. As of Friday (Nov. 11, 2022), the water level of the dam was at 201.80 meters, short of the 219.46-meter rule curve or ideal water elevation. (File photo from NIA-UPRIIS)
CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – The National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS) has urged irrigators associations and other stakeholders to follow the cropping calendar to ensure efficient water use from dams for proper irrigation.
“This is to avoid problems in the supply and delivery of irrigation water. This is in preparation for dry crop 2023 wherein we will resume water delivery in Division II service areas from the Pantabangan Dam Reserve on Dec.1, 2022,” Engr. Rosalinda B. Bote, department manager of NIA-UPRIIS, said in an interview on Friday.
As of Nov. 11, the water level of Pantabangan Dam was at 201.80 meters above sea level, way short of the 219.46-meter rule curve or ideal water elevation.
Bote said the agency has programmed 109,642.48 hectares for irrigation this coming dry season, based on the projected elevation of 205.27 meters on Nov. 30, 2022.
She said cloud seeding would be launched to boost the water reserve of Pantabangan Dam, and that in fact, a carrier from the Philippine Air Force's 900th Air Force Weather Group is on standby at Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Palayan City, this province, for the operation.
"Pandagdag lang sa Pantabangan Dam 'yung cloud seeding since very positive kami mag-uulan pa hanggang January (The cloud seeding is to augment the Pantabangan Dam’s water reserve since we are very positive that it will continue to rain until January)," she said.
Likewise, she said that NIA-UPRIIS employs several strategies to augment and maximize the use of water such as the establishment of solar-powered pump projects, implementation of Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) water management technology, and promotion of diversified cropping systems.
NIA-UPRIIS which operates the Pantabangam Dam and other smaller dams, supplies irrigation water to farms in Nueva Ecija and portions of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac. (PNA)
