Metro Manila could face a “major problem” in water supply should the El Niño phenomenon extend beyond the second quarter of 2024, Environment Undersecretary Carlos David said.
David said the water supply from Angat Dam, which supplies around 90 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water requirement, and other sources can meet the demand “until around May or June of 2024.”
“We’re trying to preserve it that way so that once we enter 2024, it’s at its maximum volume,” he said.
“If the El Niño event next year progresses, intensifies, and even extends further than June, then it will be a major problem for Metro Manila,” David said.
David said efforts are being made to prevent a repeat of the 2019 water crisis in Metro Manila where residents faced limited or no water supply.
“We want to prevent that. It’s the 21st century already. We should be better in terms of forecasting, better in terms of managing our resources,” he added.
The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, for its part, expressed confidence the National Water Resources Board will allow Angat Dam’s water level to reach 214 meters to provide an extra buffer for its operations.
“There is an ongoing spilling because of the rains at the watershed in the past so we have a buffer zone,” MWSS department manager Patrick James Dizon said.
The MWSS requested to add another two-meter water level in the Angat reservoir as a buffer ahead of the El Niño phenomenon, he added.
“Based on the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services and Administration probabilities, the effect of the El Niño will be less in May,” he said, adding that the country is expecting a La Niña episode in July.
The state weather bureau earlier said around 65 provinces across the country could experience drought, while six others might experience a dry spell by the end of May 2024.
President Marcos said he has ordered concerned government agencies to complete water-related projects by April 2024 in preparation for the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.
“I set a deadline for our departments, encouraging them to consider what can be accomplished by April of next year. This way, by May, if the dry spell persists and there is still no rain, we will have sufficient water supply in place,” Mr. Marcos said.
At the same time, the President said the El Niño Task Force has been reorganized as part of extensive efforts to ensure food, water, and power security amid the weather phenomenon.
The El Niño Task Force was reconstituted in May this year, in response to Marcos’ call for a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-nation” approach to prepare for the possible impact of El Niño.
“We have to be very logical and rational [in] the way we distribute the water, to be able to determine which areas really need the water most,” he said.