(Eagle News)–Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol has ordered the conduct of cloud-seeding operations amid the decline in the water levels at La Mesa Dam.
Piñol directed Agriculture Undersecretary Cayanan to give the order to the DA regional offices, the agriculture secretary said in a Facebook post on Monday, March 12.
Piñol said Cayanan was also ordered to coordinate with the Philippine Air Force for the cloud-seeding operations over Bulacan, Pampanga and Rizal.
According to Piñol, last year, funds were “already” transferred to the regional offices and the PAF for the operations.
Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification process that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from the clouds through the dispersal of substances into the air.
The Palace said this was a possibility, with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reporting that as of Monday morning, the water level at La Mesa dam had reached 68.93 meters, a few meters shy of the 69-meter critical low level.
Several cities have also started experiencing water service disruptions, an event Manila Water attributed to El Niño and the declining water levels at La Mesa Dam.