State weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration on Wednesday disclosed that water levels at Luzon dams are showing a downtrend amid the ongoing El Niño phenomenon.

Latest monitoring of PAGASA revealed that the reservoir water level of Angat Dam — which supplies potable water to the majority of Metro Manila areas and nearby provinces — incurred the biggest 24-hour water level deviation of -0.31.

It is now at 202.47 meters, less than the 202.78m reservoir water level recorded the previous day as its present water level is -9.53 meters below its normal high water level of 212.00 meters.

Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, on the other hand, exhibited a -0.29-water level reduction from its 182.09m reservoir water level on Tuesday to the current 181.80m level.

Meanwhile, the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan fell to 238.26m reservoir water level from its previous 238.53m, indicating a -0.27 24-hour water level deviation.

The Caliraya Dam in Laguna province also had a -0.15 reduction over a day, from its previous 286.82m reservoir water level to now 286.67m.

Ambuklao Dam in Benguet province posed a -0.13 drop as it registered a 747.36m reservoir water level from its 747.49m level on Tuesday.

Other dams that sustained a decrease in water level are the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City, which has a 24-hour water level deviation of -0.04 (from 75.96m to 75.92m) and the Magat Dam in Isabela with -0.01 (from 172.00m to 171.99m).

Only the Ipo Dam in Bulacan logged a slight rise of 0.04 water level from 99.51m reservoir water level to 99.55m.

PAGASA Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section chief Analiza Solis earlier said that lessening of water level in dams is normal during the warm and dry seasons.

She added that due to the ongoing El Niño, the Angat Dam is expected to continue exhibiting a reduction in its reservoir water level.

“We said that we are managing our Angat properly so that at least at the end of the effects of what we call El Niño and our warm and dry season months, we will still be able to recover just in time when our rainy season arrives,” Solis said.