San Roque Dam hits critical level

By Eva Visperas

SAN MANUEL, Pangasinan -- The San Roque Dam here has not released water for irrigation since July 15 due to low water level.
    In an advisory released recently, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said there was also no generation of the contracted power capacity of 115 megawatts by the San Roque Power Corp. (SRPC).
    “This unwanted situation may prevail until sufficient amount of rainfall will occur at the San Roque Dam watershed,” the NIA said.
    Tom Valdez, SRPC vice president for corporate affairs, said the dam’s water level was at 225.40 meters above sea level, which was not sufficient to generate power.
    Power generation will resume as soon as the water level rises, Valdez said, adding that rains brought by tropical storm Fabian irrigated the farms.
    A similar situation happened in 2007 when the reservoir elevation dropped to 225.42 meters.