The 

La Mesa Dam and Reservoir is an earth dam in Quezon City, Philippines. Its reservoir can

hold up to 50.5 million cubic meters (1,780 million cubic feet), occupying an area of 27 square
kilometers (10 sq mi). It is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of the
water supply of Metro Manila.

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) decided to build a replacement for
the old Wawa Dam in Montalban, Rizal. The Wawa Dam which serves Manila and surrounding
locales had to be replaced due to the growing population of the Manila area.[1]
The La Mesa was built in Novaliches, which was then still part of the municipality of Caloocan 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 in Norzagaray, Bulacan in 1936, the Angat
Dam in the same locale in 1967. The three dams formed part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water
system.[1]
The La Mesa Dam was raised in 1959 to increase the reservoir's maximum capacity to its current
level.[
The La Mesa Dam is an earth dam with a height of 24 meters (79 ft). The elevation at its crest is
82.5 meters (271 ft) while the elevation at its overflow section is 80.15 meters (263.0 ft).

The La Mesa Reservoir has a maximum capacity of about 50.5 million cubic meters (1,780 million
cubic feet). Water from the reservoir spills into the Tullahan River which transports the water
to Manila Bay.

The La Mesa Watershed Reservation which hosts the dam and reservoir is jointly administered,
supervised, and controlled by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the
Philippine national government and the is under the joint administration, supervision and control of
the (DENR) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

The La Mesa Dam is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system which supplies water to the
population of Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.[1]
The water collected in the reservoir is treated at the La Mesa and Balara Treatment Plants. 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.[4]
Whenever the water level of the dam drops below 69 meters (226 ft) or the critical mark, the
MWSS, Maynilad, and Manila Water begin to regulate the water supply they dispense to their
patrons.[1]