With the extreme heat gripping the country, water level at the Bato Lake here has been dropping fast to its critical level. From last month’s 3 meters, the water level is now 1.75 meters, Alejandro Pili Jr., agriculture technician for fisheries at the municipal agriculture office, told the Inquirer, citing the results of the latest sampling test. Bato, the seventh largest freshwater lake in the country, has an average depth of 8 meters and is home to the “sinarapan,” the world’s smallest commercial fish species. The 2,810-ha lake is also host to some 18,000 fish cages that supply tilapia to most of the Bicol region.

Jaucian, M. (2015, May 22). Water at Bato lake reaches critical level; fish kill feared. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A20.