Despite forecasts that the El Niño dry spell may prevail until May, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, or MWSS, assured the public on Tuesday that the diminishing water levels in Luzon dams was not a cause for alarm.

The MWSS said the drop in the dams’ water levels was normal in the absence of rainfall.

“During this month, it is normal for our reservoirs to drop because from January to May, there is really no rain in the watersheds,” according to MWSS Division Manager Patrick James Dizon.

“When July to December comes, that’s the time to refill the reservoirs so we can use something for next year,” he said.

Dizon said that in November last year, the MWSS had requested that the National Water Resources Board raise the normal high water level of Angat Dam to 214 meters from 212 meters.

“We have additional buffer meters so that we can use something this summer,” he said, adding that the reserve water allocation has yet to be used.

“For the month of March, our allocation has not been reduced because Pagasa said the El Niño is fading. Hopefully, our reservoirs will be able to recover,” he said.

Monitoring by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration showed the water level at Angat Dam, which provides potable water to most of Metro Manila and nearby provinces, was at 206.35 meters, a -0.08 decrease from the 206.43 reserve water level recorded at the same time the previous day.

Angat’s current RWL is -5.65 short of its usual high water level, or NHWL, of 212.00 meters. Dizon said the water level at Angat has been dropping by 19 centimeters per day.

The San Roque Dam in Pangasinan registered the most significant drop in RWL in the past 24 hours, recording a -0.42 decline. Its current RWL of 242.67 meters is -37.33 lower than its 280.00 NHWL.

Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija exhibited a -0.30 water level reduction from the RWL of 186.71 meters on Monday to the current RWL of 186.41 meters, a -34.59 shortfall compared to its NWHL of 221.00 meters.

Other Luzon dams that have seen reduced water levels are Magat Dam in Isabela, Caliraya Dam in Laguna, Ambuklao Dam in Benguet, Ipo Dam in Bulacan and La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Binga Dam, located on the Agno River, was the only dam to register an increased water level — to 569.54 from 569.13, equivalent to a 0.41 24-hour water level deviation.