What is Mayon Volcano cooking?

In Daraga, Albay, on the foothills of Mount Mayon, small springs have dried up and the water supply from the Budiao spring has dropped as Mayon volcano started to act up again.

When the magma intrusion is still deep inside the crater, there is a corresponding dilatory effect on the discharge of the ground water level. This lack of pressure makes the ground water level recede and springs reduce their water delivery or can even get dry.

Once the magma body is near the ground level there is also a compression effect which enables the springs to recover as their discharge volume returns.

The water production of Budiao spring, one of the main sources of water for over 8,000 households in Daraga, has dropped to 7,740 cubic meters in April from 8,100 cubic meters in March and from 8,399 in February this year.

When Mayon is becoming abnormal, the water supply from our Budiao spring is affected, as could be observed before the 1993 and 2009 eruptions.

PHIVOLCS had raised the alert level at Mayon Volcano from 0 to 1 last Friday afternoon after a faint crater glow was observed. A slight inflation is observed and an ash explosion happened last May 7, 2013.

In this context you may want to read “Pompeii” from Robert Harris.
Marcus Attilius Primus arrives in the Bay of Naples from Rome to take charge as aquarius (hydraulic engineer) of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that supplies water to the many towns in a region encompassing the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Attilius’ predecessor as aquarius, Exomnius, has mysteriously vanished as the springs that flow through the aqueduct begin to fail, lowering the supply of water available to the region’s reservoir, the Piscina Mirabilis in Misenum.

ISBN: 0-09-928261-5