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. It was a part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system. Its normal level is 101 m.

Ipo Dam
View of Ipo Dam from San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan.
Ipo Dam is located in Bulacan
Ipo Dam
Location in Bulacan
Ipo Dam is located in Luzon
Ipo Dam
Location in Luzon
Ipo Dam is located in Philippines
Ipo Dam
Location in the Philippines
Official nameIpo Dam
LocationBarangay San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan, Philippines
Coordinates14°52′N 121°09′E / 14.867°N 121.150°E / 14.867; 121.150
Construction began1935 (1935)
Opening dateDecember 1938 (1938-12)
January 1984 (1984-01)
Operator(s)Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsAngat River
Reservoir
CreatesIpo Reservoir
Total capacity7.5×10^6 m3 (260×10^6 cu ft)

The Ipo Dam is a gravity concrete dam located about 7.5 kilometres downstream of the Angat Dam near its confluence with the Ipo River in Bulacan. It was completed in January 1984 with a maximum storage capacity of 7.5 million cubic metres, an increase of about 2,500 million litres per day (MLD) from the old Ipo Dam, which was completed in December 1938, used to be located 200 metres upstream of the new dam.

The spill level of the dam is at an elevation of 101 metres and it has seven radial floodgates. The watershed topography is characterised by mountainous terrain similar to the Angat Reservoir Watershed with moderate forest cover. The watershed has an area of about 70 square kilometers and receives an average annual rainfall of 3,500 millimeters. Tributaries to the Angat River at this section include the Ipo, Sapa Pako and Sapa Anginon Rivers. These tributaries drain into the Angat River from the eastern section of the watershed.

Water from the dam is diverted to the Novaliches Portal and the La Mesa Dam through three intake structures going down to three connecting tunnels into five connecting aqueducts.

Battle of Ipo Dam

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Aerial view of Ipo Dam on Angat River, 1940

On May 19, 1945, during World War II, the dam was captured in the Battle of Ipo Dam. The Yay Regiment of the Marking Guerrillas, under the command of Col. Marcos V. Agustin, and the US Army's 43rd Division, supported by the Fifth Air Force, captured the water source intact from the Japanese defenders.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Panlilio, Yay (1950). The Crucible: An Autobiography by Colonel Yay, Filipina American Guerrilla. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. pp. 307-310. ISBN 9780813546827.