Droughts threatens Philippines’ water supply.
It hasn’t rain much since September last year. The country is under a dry spell which is predicted to last until July. According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Benguet, Batanes, Isabela, Cagayan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nieva Viscaya, Pampanga, Batangas, Iloilo, Antique, Negros Occidental and Guimaras are experiencing drought.
The water level in Magat Dam in Isabela continuous to dropped and is 166.51 meters (21 meters below normal) as of Feb 10, 2010. Ideally, Magat dam water level should be at 192 meters. The dam provides the water needs of major irrigation for 80,000 hectares of farmlands in Quirino, Cagayan and Isabela. It also provides the waters needs of the hydroelectric plant in Ramon, Isabela which is responsible for 350 megawatts of power to the Luzon grid. To provide the daily water requirements for the hydroelectric plant and irrigations, water levels in Magat dam should be at least 187 to 188 meters
The water level of three other dams in Luzon are also decreasing but has not reached critical levels. The following dams are Angat dam in Bulacan. San Roque dam in Pangasinan and Pantabangan dam in Nueva Ecija. Angat dam water level is now at 198.61 meters (2.39 meters below ideal level). Pantabangan dam is 2.91 meters below normal while san Roque has a 1.38 meter deficit of the normal level.
The government is looking into cloud seeding and rationing of the water supply in several areas in the Philippines. Maynilad Plans to fix their facilities to prevent unnecessary loss of water.
The drought is brought by the El Niño Phenomenon. If it would last as long as they predicted, the Philippines would face a water shortage. The drought that the Philippines is facing is one of the effects of Global warming. If people were not taking it serious then, they should take it serious now. Everyone in the Planet is affected. It is easier to ignore the issue if the person has not been affected by the effects of Global warming.
Last year, I experienced firsthand how devastating it could be when nature goes wild. It is hard to believe that a few months ago the rainfall during Typhoon Ondoy (international codename) has reached a record high in the Philippines. The Philippines was caught unprepared for the havoc Ondoy has brought. Everyone never thought that it would be possible to rain as hard nor it would flood so extensively.
0 comments:
Post a Comment