Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado said  the provincial government is now consulting with technicians that will put up the CCTV cameras and the monitoring systems at the operations center of the PDRRMO at the capitol compound here.

“This way, we can actually monitor the release of waters from these dams and their actual flow to the Angat and Santa Maria rivers in the province especially during the typhoon season, “Alvarado said.

The PDRRMO reported on Friday the Angat, Ipo and Bustos dams spill gates were still open as of 8 a.m. These dams started releasing water since Thursday afternoon after the water level at Angat Dam reached 214 meters, which is four meters above the dam’s spilling level of 210 meters.

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

Agustin said the release of water from the dams was not the cause of the recent floodings in the coastal towns of Calumpit and Hagonoy since the Angat River can still contain the volume of water being discharged from the three dams.

The governor said existing protocols on the release of water from the dams should be reviewed to avoid the repeat of the severe flooding that hit Calumpit and Hagonoy recently.

The flooding was said to have been aggravated by the release of waters from the three dams at the height of typhoons Pedring and Quiel. He said dam engineers should release water from the reservoirs once the water level reaches 206 meters during the rainy season. Right now, dam officials will not release water unless the spilling level of 210 meters is breached.