PAGASA open to dam protocol updating

FILE: The Ambuklao Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant in Bokod, Benguet. (Photo By Watersanitationandsupply/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) sees the need to review and update protocols governing dam operations nationwide.

Reviewing and updating the protocols — through the dam oversight committee which government plans to create — will make these attuned to the times, noted PAGASA Administrator Dr. Vicente Malano.

“Possibly with that committee, we can revisit the protocols, fix these and have harmony in terms of operating dams,” he also said Friday during an online PAGASA forum.

Fixing the protocols must include defining agencies’ roles in dam management, he said.

He also cited the need to assess the water-carrying capacity of dams and conditions in such facilities’ in downstream areas as these most likely changed over the years.

Major flooding not seen in decades ravaged Region II (Cagayan Valley) this month when Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) struck, raising concern about the management of Magat Dam.

Ulysses’ rain helped increase Magat’s water but its level rose, prompting the dam to release excess water.

According to experts, the excess water’s release contributed to the flooding in Region II.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) assured it followed the protocol in releasing Magat’s water.

At a House committee meeting this week, NIA Administrator Ricardo Visaya said that then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo set in 2006 the policy about the release of water from Magat Dam.

He noted that such a policy designated PAGASA as the agency that will decide on the release of Magat water.

The policy provides that PAGASA’s decision will be based on its weather forecast to ensure water from Magat is within the absorptive capacity of the Cagayan River, he continued.

The Cagayan River is Region II’s main waterway, which overflowed as Ulysses wreaked havoc, flooding communities there.

Malano hopes reviewing and updating protocols for dams will clarify and rationalize PAGASA’s role in the management of these facilities.

The government in 2012 spearheaded revisiting of dam protocols but PAGASA, National Power Corporation (Napocor), and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) were the only agencies that signed the document on this, he noted.

Dam protocols of NIA and PAGASA at present are still based on the directive of Mrs. Arroyo, he added.