00:00 Level of water in Angat Dam and updates on the effects of El Niño, we will discuss with Engineer Patrick Dizon,
00:08 Division Manager of Metropolitan Water Works and Sewerage System or MWSS.
00:14 Engineer Dizon, good afternoon.
00:17 Good afternoon, Miss Nina and all the viewers and listeners of your program.
00:23 Since 90% of Metro Manila is supplied by Angat Dam, Engineer, what is the level of water in Angat Dam now?
00:35 What is the current measurement and what is the normal operating level of Angat Dam?
00:41 Today, our Angat Dam is at 208.56 meters. It is close to our target reservoir elevation of 210 meters after this year.
00:57 It is also close to the normal high water level of Angat Dam, which is 212 meters.
01:03 If you compare it to our elevation last year, on the same date, our elevation is now higher by around 10 meters.
01:13 So, our water is still sufficient for now.
01:16 Engineer Patrick, good afternoon.
01:18 On the level of water you provided, can we say that Metro Manila has sufficient water supply until the end of the year?
01:27 Yes. On the elevation of our reservoir, we can see that it is sufficient.
01:34 The rain in our watershed area also helped because of the so-called share line of hope and the comfort that we are experiencing in our watershed now.
01:46 It is maintaining the water supply of our reservoir.
01:54 Sir, what are the things that helped to maintain the water level of Angat Dam in the other side of the El Nino River?
02:02 In the recent typhoons that have passed through our country, especially in our dams where we are getting water from Angat and Ipo, it has helped a lot.
02:18 Also, the savings that we made last month helped us to hit our target elevation for this year of 210 meters.
02:30 We at MWS and other government branches, including the interagency and technical working group, are thankful to our fellow countrymen for saving on water usage.
02:47 Engineer, in your assessment, is our water supply sufficient until the first quarter of the next year, especially when there is a chance of a hotter weather like the El Nino River in the next year?
02:59 As I mentioned earlier, our chances are high that we will meet our year-end target elevation of 210 meters.
03:09 Based on the projections of the technical working group, we have a higher chance of maintaining the water level and we can increase the normal high water level of 212 meters.
03:23 These elevations will give us high confidence that our supply will be sufficient to meet the target of the El Nino River that we expect to last until the next year.
03:40 Sir, what are the other steps of MWSS for the supply of water and to meet the possible effect of the El Nino River?
03:52 Ms. Nina, aside from our Angat, Ipo and Lamesa dams, we are maintaining their reservoir elevation to continue the water supply of our countrymen.
04:07 We are also continuing to implement our water supply augmentation measures outside the Angat dam.
04:15 These are the new water treatment plants that we are building with the help of our concessionaires, Manila Water and Manila Bay,
04:24 for the water we are getting from other places like Laguna Lake.
04:28 One of them is the Poblacion Water Treatment Plant for Manila and the East Bay in Laguna Lake for Manila Water.
04:37 These new treatment plants can add up to 400 million liters per day to our water supply.
04:45 Another thing we are doing is building modular water treatment plants in the rivers of Cavite and Marikina,
04:53 including the rehabilitation of our deep wells in other places in Manila, to help us augment our water supply, just in case our water supply from the Angat Dam is reduced.
05:08 Sir, we also asked for details on your memorandum of understanding with the Korea Water Resources Corporation.
05:17 What does this agreement include and how will this help our country's water resource and management?
05:25 This Monday, the 19th Asia Water Council was held where the Philippines, through the MWSS and our three concessionaires, hosted this event.
05:41 This is a gathering of experts around Asia to discuss the enhancement of coordination of the country's members of the Asia Water Council
05:53 for water security, wastewater and sanitation management.
05:58 During this council meeting, the MWSS and the Korean Water Resources Development Corporation signed the memorandum of understanding.
06:12 This cooperation will last for three years to provide technical assistance, knowledge sharing or exchanges of best practices on the operation of the water system,
06:28 as well as the capacity building of the enhancement of our competencies of young water engineers in these two countries.
06:38 This cooperation has no financial implication to our government because K-Water will provide assistance and they are willing to finance this
06:51 so that the water service in Metro Manila will be improved.
06:54 Sir please send a message and remind our consumers who are tuned in to our program.
07:03 Thank you very much for your continuous support to us, to MWSS, for the opportunity to inform our countrymen about the progress we are making,
07:14 together with our concessionaires, so that we can improve the water supply to our countrymen.
07:21 In our first and second quarters of this year, this has helped us to meet our target of elevation at the end of December 2023,
07:36 so we can overcome the effects of El Nino next year.
07:40 According to our expectations, we can feel the effects of El Nino until the second quarter of next year.
07:46 We are calling on our countrymen to continue practicing the wise use of water. Thank you very much.
07:53 Thank you very much for your time, Engineer Patrick Dizon, division manager of MWSS.
08:02 and the U.S.S.
