Cloud seeding on Wed.

Most awaited by irrigators and farmers associations, the next round of Cloud Seeding Operations(CSOs) will be conducted on Wednesday to save the vegetative and reproductive stages of standing crops, livestock and other agricultural products in Bohol.
This surfaced after Leon Parac, Jr. from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and Engr. Corazon Ditarro from the Water Resources Division, Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) conducted the Pre-Cloud Seeding Assessment last Tuesday and Wednesday at the four major dams and other agricultural areas in Bohol affected by the dry season.
Parac, who is the cloud seeding focal person reported that the water levels of all dams are near critical levels: Malinao Dam in Pilar – actual level at 147.90 meters (ms.), critical level is 146.4ms., full level is 152ms.; Bayongan Dam in San Miguel-actual 42.11 ms., critical 41 ms., full 52 ms.; Capayas Dam in Ubay- actual 33.03 ms., critical 30 ms., full 36.50 ms.; Talibon Dam in Zamora, Talibon-actual 22.38 ms., critical 21 ms., full 30 ms..
He said that the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) considered the water level of Talibon Dam as “dead” because it can no longer deliver water to the service areas in the town of Talibon.
During last Thursday’s assessment meeting together with Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Larry M. Pamugasat the Bohol Capitol, Parac bared that they recommended the conduct of CSOs the soonest possible time.
Catherine Cristales from Royhle Airways, the winning bidder of the 43 hours of seeding operations said that their RP-C1120 aircraft to be used in the operations will arrive at the Bohol Panglao International Airport on Tuesday just in time the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) grants the permit for the operations.
Edna N. Yu, Officer- in- Charge, RAED chief-DA-RFO 7 said that for their part as implementer, it is all systems go for the 43 hours of CSOs in Bohol confirming that the P2.5 million fund from BSWM was downloaded to their office.
Parac said there will be a pre-cloud seeding meeting tomorrow at the OPA office together with the personnel of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) who will serve as the cloud spotters targeting the watershed areas.
Other being utilized as cloud spotters are the trained rice technicians who will give signals to the command center based at the airport to be manned by the BSWM personnel and PAF if there are seedable clouds over the said areas. (AtoyCosap)

CAPTION:
DAMS WATER LEVELS.The four major dams in Bohol: Malinao in Pilar, Bayongan in San Miguel, Capayas in Ubay and Zamora in Talibon at almost critical level. The RP-C1120 aircraft (top-most photo) to be used for the Cloud Seeding Operations. The aircraft is fromRoyhle Airways based in Dumaguete City, the winning bidder for the 43-hour cloud seeding operation in Bohol. Foto LEON PARAC, JR.