Theera calms fears of dam levels

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut has played down public fears over high water levels in the country's major dams, promising they will be below 50% of capacity by May 1.

As a result, none of the dams would have to release massive volumes of water in one go and cause flooding in areas downriver, as happened during the flood crisis last year.

Mr Theera said the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) and other agencies have together mapped out a plan to manage water in dams across the country.

The plan will be proposed to the Office of the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management on Feb 23.

For water in major dams that has affected areas in the Chao Phraya River basin, they have agreed levels must be kept at below 50% of their capacity, said Mr Theera.

According to the water management plan just mapped out, by May 1, water in the Bhumibol dam must be about 6,550 million cubic metres, or about 49% of its capacity.

Water in the Sirikit dam meanwhile must be 4,260 million cu/m, or at 45% of its capacity.

Water in the Khwae Noi Bamrung Daen dam must be kept under 350 million cu/m, or 37% of the dam's capacity.

In the Pasak Cholasit dam, the water level should be around 300 million cu/m, or 38% of its capacity.

The water management plan is based on 30 years of rainfall statistics, added Mr Theera.

Yesterday, the total volume of water in medium- and large-sized reservoirs around the country came to more than 60,000 million cu/m, or 81% of their combined capacity. The volume was nearly 10,999 million cu/m higher than the total volume in the dams during the same period last year.

Suthep Noiphairot, deputy director-general of the RID, also said he believed by August, water levels in all dams would be lower than last year because paddy farmers are expected to use more water.

He said this year the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has encouraged rice farmers in the Central Plains to do two seasons of farming and begin the first earlier than last year. Then, the second crop should be done by September.

Narong Thaiprayoon, director of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand responsible for the Bhumibol dam in Tak's Sam Ngao district, said the dam would be able to accommodate an additional 6,500 million cu/m of water from up to four tropical storms between August and October this year.

Share your thoughts

Discussion 1 : 28/01/2012 at 09:59 PM
I believe the plan is to flood Bangkok worse than ever to bring Bangkok to its knees .
Discussion 2 : 28/01/2012 at 05:06 PM
'As a result, none of the dams would have to release massive volumes of water in one go and cause flooding downriver as happened during the flood crisis last year.' Appears to be a clear admission of guilt as far as I can see.
Discussion 3 : 28/01/2012 at 05:05 PM
D19, in Africa & Arab countries they say, In shaa'Allah or "God willing" or "If it is God's will". It's the same as nothing gets done, let's leave it to La Nina and El Nino.
Discussion 4 : 28/01/2012 at 04:15 PM
The proof of the pudding is in the eating.If we get flooded this year there is only one department to blame.Quit frankly I an surprised these people are still in a job never mind in charge.Is it rocket science that to prevent flooding the dams must be as empty as possible or are we afraid of a drought.This year has already produced more water than ever before so where is the problem.Nothing seems to be happening about clearing the canals waterways and drains.Dose it need parliament to give the go-ahead to start the work that is desperately needed to stop a it all happening again this year.Spain have a word for it manyana meaning tomorrow but tomorrow never comes there fore nothing gets done.
Discussion 5 : 28/01/2012 at 03:18 PM
Khun BKKFarang #17, the global temperature keeps changing all the time, and it has been in a cooling cycle in the last 12 years. You might notice that the term "Global Warming" has been changed to "Climate Change" recently. So, let not your heart be troubled because the world is not getting warmer as you said, but is, in fact, cooling down. So, let, hope this new Global Cooling doesn't affect our food production too much, or there will be famine in the near future.
Discussion 6 : 28/01/2012 at 02:39 PM
The water management plan is based on 30 years of rainfall statistics, added Mr Theera. The problem is that global warming has changed the world in the last few years dramatically, to base it on 30 years is dangerous to say the least, start learning to swim quickly, we may need it
Discussion 7 : 28/01/2012 at 01:37 PM
So there is a plan ,,, and it will be proposed end of April ... so the plan that "was" is still not there ...so what they wanna do in the meantime ?
Discussion 8 : 28/01/2012 at 01:20 PM
Spiceman, Disc 4. The water wasn't let out of Bhumibol so the farmers around Suphan Buri could harvest there rice crop & a special rice crop for middle east investors also!!!
Discussion 9 : 28/01/2012 at 01:02 PM
"Mr Theera said the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) and other agencies have together mapped out a plan to manage water in dams across the country." Plan, manage, perform and then, PLEASE do not forget maintenance! Let's see how it all works out, but this government may have learned their lesson from the Great Flood of 2011.
Discussion 10 : 28/01/2012 at 10:36 AM
So the minister is adamant that the capacity levels will be at 50% by May 1. We've had three days of fairly heavy rain this week in a month that is supposed to be bone dry. Nice to know that the minister has a crystal ball and we can all go back to sleep.
Discussion 11 : 28/01/2012 at 10:19 AM
Bhumipol Dam has net outflow 50 Mcumpd as at 25/01. To drop 5,000 Mcum from 11,500 Mcum will take 100 days, just to check Khun Theera's math. The question is can the water level drop sooner. Between now and May how much rain we will get from La Nina?
Discussion 12 : 28/01/2012 at 10:00 AM
Great news. Or to quote the YS slogan "everything's under control"
Discussion 13 : 28/01/2012 at 09:42 AM
Actually the water levels have been in a process of lowering them for a month already,and have been going down about a half percent per day... but it has not been widely reported...what has been reported is the political rhetoric from the DP stating that the current government does not know what they are doing etc...and the typical opposition arguments to try to cast anyone or anything in the majority in a bad light....the PT did the same when they were in the opposition so this is not unusual. I think the PT must have a very bad PR director as they often let the other side dictate what will be in the news when in fact they should be controlling and building their own image. Because of the TS issue that seems to overshadow every thing it is easy for the opposition to keep the majority in a defensive position and off balance all the time. Of course the opposition knows this too and they would like to keep the TS issue on the front page at any opportunity as they know this fires up their base more than any other issue. So it looks like the PT needs to do a better job with the news releases and political spin. This water in the dam issue has should have been explained to the public a month ago, but they failed to control their own message.
Discussion 14 : 28/01/2012 at 09:40 AM
In 2011 the water level in the Bhumibol dam in April already was at about 6,000 million cubic metres. And we know what happened then in September and October. It is right to release as much water as possible in Feb,March,April. But the critical phase is the rainy season and how many storms and rainfall will come. Nobody can predict that for sure. And then the water level in the dams must be properly managed.
Discussion 15 : 28/01/2012 at 08:52 AM
But checking the focast for La Nina, the rainy season will come 3 weeks earlier than usual. Is that factored in?
Discussion 16 : 28/01/2012 at 08:50 AM
ggh, Disc 3: Yes it does exist within the Royal Irrigation website and various Tambon websites. But very hard to find if you cant read Thai.
Discussion 17 : 28/01/2012 at 08:36 AM
Lets see here. They have a proposed plan but it will not be brought to discussion until a month from now. It will take a few weeks to implement it so we are in the middle of March and have to get rid of 22 billion cubic meters of water without flooding the low lands in the process. Great Timing!
Discussion 18 : 28/01/2012 at 08:26 AM
Cane we believe them this time or is this another it's not going to flood it's going to flood statement?
Discussion 19 : 28/01/2012 at 08:24 AM
Khun Ggh #3, Bhumibol Dam's been operating for more than 40 years, and the accumulative data generated also tells us where its water level is supposed to be throughout the year, in order, to safely optimize water irrigation without causing neither excessive drought nor flooding. However, last year, the AG Minister had allowed the water level to breach the upper safety limit in late September, for the first time, and we all know what followed. This year, I am glad to see that the AG Minister has finally learned from his colossal mistake last year, and begun obeying the "safe zone" again. Finally, the people can live their lives normally without fear of having another calamity befalling them again.
Discussion 20 : 28/01/2012 at 06:18 AM
Maybe this already exists? If not, the government should have a public site providing real time levels of dams and reservoirs throughout the country, including historical data. Surely this information is on record.
Discussion 21 : 28/01/2012 at 05:21 AM
Who said old dog can't learn a new trick? And I thank God for it!
Discussion 22 : 28/01/2012 at 05:19 AM
Thank God!

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