CITY OF MALOLOS, Philippines — Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado Sunday in a telephone interview said the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office will put CCTV cameras at the spill-gates of Angat, Ipo and Bustos dam and major rivers to monitor in real time the actual releases of water and the rise of rivers when typhoon comes.

Alvarado said they already talked with technicians that will put up the CCTV cameras and the monitoring systems to be put up at the operations center of the PDRRMO here.

“Dito natin makikita ang actual na pagpapawala ng tubig sa mga dams at ang pagdaloy nito sa Angat river at mabababang bayan, pati na rin ang paglaki ng tubig sa mga major rivers sa Bulacan,” Alvarado said.

He said that CCTV cameras will also be put up at the Angat river and Sta. Maria river so that the PDRRMO can monitor and act fast during stormy weather.

PDRRMO chief Liz Mungcal also reported Sunday that the spill-gates of Angat, Ipo and Bustos dams are still open as of 8 a.m. The 3 dams has started releasing water since Thursday afternoon after the water level at Angat dam reached 214 meters which is 4 meters above the dam’s spilling level of 212 meters.

Raul Agustin, senior operations officer of PDRRMO, said that 3 radial gates of Angat dam remain open and has discharged 308 cubic meters per second (cms) of water while Ipo dam has opened its 3 gates and discharged 203 cms of water that flows downwards to the Bustos irrigation dam which has also opened 3 gates and discharged 250 cms of water.

Agustin said the release of water from the dams have no effect on the recently flood-ravaged coastal towns of Calumpit and Hagonoy since the Angat river can still contain the volume of water being discharged from the 3 dams.

Alvarado said that this is the right time for dam officials to release excess water from their dams. He said that the water level at Angat dam—which is still 3.51meters above its spilling level of 210 meters—remains critical.

“Kapag ganitong umaaraw sila dapat unti-unting nagpapawala ng tubig at hindi sa kasagsagan ng bagyo” the governor said.

The governor stressed that existing protocols on the release of water from the dams should be reviewed to avoid the repeat of the severe flooding that hit the coastal towns of Calumpit and Hagonoy recently. The flooding was said to have been aggravated by the release of waters from the 3 dams at the height of Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel”.

He said that dam engineers should release water from the reservoirs once the water level reach 206 meters during rainy season. Right now dam officials will not release water unless the spilling level of 210 meters is breached.