CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — The National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System is urging irrigators associations and other stakeholders to follow the cropping calendar to ensure efficient water use from dams for proper irrigation.

NIA-UPRIIS department manager Engr. Rosalinda Bote stressed that the move seeks to avoid problems in the supply and delivery of irrigation water and preparation for dry crop 2023 where they will resume water delivery in Division II service areas from the Pantabangan Dam Reserve on 1 December 2022.

Bote said that as of 11 November, the water level of Pantabangan Dam was at 201.80 meters above sea level, way short of the 219.46-meter rule curve or ideal water elevation, adding that the agency has programmed 109,642.48 hectares for irrigation this coming dry season, based on the projected elevation of 205.27 meters on 30 November 2022.

She said cloud seeding would be launched to boost the water reserve of Pantabangan Dam, and that in fact, a carrier from the Philippine Air Force's 900th Air Force Weather Group is on standby at Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Palayan City, this province, for the operation.