CITY OF SAN FERNANDO The National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (NIA-UPRIIS) in Central Luzon disclosed on Wednesday that it exceeded its programmed service area this wet season, a ranking official said Wednesday.

Some 145,000 hectares have been served to farms in Nueva Ecija and portions of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac via the Pantabangan Dam and other smaller reservoirs which supply irrigation water to Central Luzon farms

NIA-UPRIIS department manager Rosalinda Bote said the agency managed to efficiently program along with the continuous modernization of irrigation systems, particularly automation of their facilities that provide them with real-time data monitoring.

“We still have additional because we anticipated that those rain-fed areas are included with us.Meron pa rin kaming additional kasi anticipated natin, yung mga rainfed areas ay nakasama na sa atin NIA-UPRIIS. The modernization program of Central Office (NIA) we are the recipient of automation. So, automated na po ang ating Rizal Dam and ngayon ay nakalinya ang ating Atate Dam So, our Rizal Dam is already automated and now, our Atate Dam is on the line-up," she said.

Bote added that the provision of an advanced communication system also enables her office to monitor rainfall in any specific place within the UPRIIS service area so they can readily cut off the release to maximize rainwater and save for the next season.