The La Mesa Dam and Reservoir is an

earth dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Its

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

can hold up to , occupying an area of . It is part of the Angat-

Ipo An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of the water supply of

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

History

Philippine Island - Luzon Island - NARA - 68156995

The La Mesa Dam was constructed in 1929 during the United States administration of the Philippines. Sometime between 1920 and 1926, the Metropolitan Water District (a predecessor agency of the

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

) decided to build a replacement for the old Wawa Dam in Montalban,

Rizal Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The p ...

. The Wawa Dam which serves

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and surrounding locales had to be replaced due to the growing population of the Manila area. The La Mesa was built in Novaliches, which was then still part of the municipality of

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan ( fil, Lungsod ng Caloocan; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most ...

due to the sloping topography of the watershed area from Bulacan. The La Mesa dam later became part of a larger dam system with the opening of the

Ipo Dam Ipo Dam is a concrete water reservoir gravity dam found in the Philippines. The dam is located about 7.5 kilometres downstream of the Angat Dam within the Angat Watershed Forest Reserve in Norzagaray, Bulacan province. It was a part of the Ang ...

Norzagaray Norzagaray, officially the Municipality of Norzagaray ( tgl, Bayan ng Norzagaray), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 136,064 people. It is the location of A ...

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...

in 1936, the

Angat Dam Angat Dam () is a concrete water reservoir embankment hydroelectric dam that supplies Metro Manila and nearby provinces with water. It was a part of the Angat-Ipo- La Mesa water system. The reservoir supplies about 90 percent of raw water require ...

in the same locale in 1967. The three dams formed part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system. The La Mesa Dam was raised in 1959 to increase the reservoir's maximum capacity to its current level.

Dam

The La Mesa Dam is an

with a height of . The elevation at its crest is while the elevation at its overflow section is .

Reservoir

The La Mesa Reservoir has a maximum capacity of about . Water from the reservoir spills into the

Tullahan River The Tullahan River is a river in the Philippines. It is located to the north of Manila and has an approximate length of . It starts at the La Mesa Reservoir in Quezon City and flows through Caloocan, Malabon, Valenzuela. and Navotas and empties ...

which transports the water to the

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...

Administration

The

La Mesa Watershed Reservation The La Mesa Watershed Reservation is a protected area that preserves the only major watershed in Metro Manila, Philippines. Also known as the Novaliches Watershed, it contains the last remaining rainforest of its size in Metro Manila surroun ...

which hosts the dam and reservoir is jointly administered, supervised, and controlled by the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kapaligiran at Likas na Yaman, DENR or KKLY) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, developmen ...

of the Philippine national government and the is under the joint administration, supervision and control of the (DENR) and the

(MWSS).

Water supply

The La Mesa Dam is part of the Angat-

-La Mesa water system which supplies water to the population of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. The water collected in the reservoir is treated at the La Mesa and

Balara Treatment Plant The Balara Filters Park is a park located in the Diliman village of Pansol in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, adjacent to the University of the Philippines Diliman main campus. It is bounded by Katipunan Avenue on the west, Capitol Hills ...

s. The La Mesa facility has a design capacity of 2,400 million litters per day (mld) while the Balara facility has a capacity of 1,600 mld. The La Mesa treatment facility serves the western half of Metro Manila while the Balara facility serves the eastern portion of the metropolis. Whenever the water level of the dam drops below or the critical mark, the MWSS,

Maynilad Maynilad Water Services, Inc., better known as Maynilad, is the water and wastewater services provider of cities and municipalities that form the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area in the Philippines. It is an agent and contractor of the Metrop ...

, and

Manila Water Manila Water Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to provide water and used water (wastewater) services to over six million people in the East Zone of Metro Manila. It is a subsidiary of the country's oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corporation. In ...

begin to regulate the water supply they dispense to their patrons.

References

External links

Angat-Ipo-La Mesa System from Manila Water Company

La Mesa Watershed and Eco-Park
{{Dams in the Philippines Dams in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Quezon City Water supply and sanitation in Metro Manila