NIA proposes new Magat Dam protocols during typhoons

CNN – Published Jan 28, 2021 8:06:16 PM

Metro Manila – The National Irrigation Administration or NIA plans to implement new protocols on Magat Dam’s operations when there’s a typhoon to avoid a repeat of the massive flooding that hit Cagayan and Isabela last year. 

NIA administrator Ricardo Visaya presented the agency’s proposal at Thursday’s joint hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food and of the Special Committee on North Luzon Growth Quadrangle on the Cagayan flooding.

Visaya said the proposed new protocols were formed by the technical working tasked by NIA to review Magat Dam’s operations after Typhoon Ulysses hit in November 2020. The panel was composed of representatives from several government agencies, including Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or NDRRMC.

Under NIA’s proposal, there will be a preemptive release of water from Magat Dam three to four days before a typhoon makes landfall in Regions 1, 2, 3, and the Cordillera Administrative Region, and when the dam reaches an elevation of 190 meters above sea level.

The existing protocol is to release water two to three days before a typhoon hits land.

The dam regulator also eyes the activation of warning stations and informing the public 24 hours before the preemptive release of water from Magat Dam. This is 18 hours longer than NIA’s existing protocol of six hours before the dam’s spillway gates are opened.

Part of NIA’s proposed new protocols also involve informing concerned government agencies, local government units, and stakeholders three times about dam operations ahead of a typhoon’s expected landfall.

NIA also plans to improve how it communicates figures on water discharged from the dam during a typhoon by expressing it in terms of meters or feet of flood so it can be better understood by the public.

Meanwhile, House Agriculture and Food Committee chairman and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga suggested that a rehabilitation plan for Cagayan River and its tributaries be created by concerned government agencies to avoid a repeat of the massive flooding in Cagayan and Isabela.

SOURCE: https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/28/NIA-proposes-protocols-Magat-Dam-typhoon-.html?fb