The Malinao Dam in the town of Pilar is scheduled to release water and start distributing it to rice paddies in the area on Monday, June 13, 2016 in time for the planting season this month.

However, the dam will not yet be able to supply all fields in the area, Belen Putong, the new operations manager of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), said in an interview with DYRD Balita.

The dam still has limited supply of water as rains have not started to pour after the long dry spell, she added.

But this will not be a major concern as the dam is supported by two bodies of water, the Wahig and Pamacsalan rivers.

According to Putong, those far from Malinao Dam will be the first to get the supply as these have not been irrigated the longest.

The NIA is targeting to supply approximately 700 hectares of rice fields in Pilar and neighboring towns.

Of the four major dams in the province, only the the Talibon Dam has started to irrigate nearby paddies as it began to release water two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, there is no schedule yet of when Capayas Dam in Ubay and Bayongan Dam in San Miguel will start to supply water to nearby fields as both continue to be under critical levels of water shortage as the dry spell is still waning. (with reports from Allen Doydora)