Water levels in dams 'scary'

[FarangFarang]

Water should be released from major dams in the North to prepare for new inflows, a Chulalongkorn University's expert said.

The amount of water held in many dams, especially Bhumibol and Sirikit dams in Tak and Uttaradit provinces, is much higher compared to this time last year.

"Officials should start releasing water in the dams right away as we have only a few months left before the rainy season arrives in May," Sombat Yumuang, director of Geo-Informatics Centre for Thailand (GISThai), Chulalongkorn University, said.

Mr Sombat made the call at a two-day International Knowledge Sharing Forum on Flood Management, held recently by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, the Strategic Committee on Water Resource Management, and the Asian Development Bank.

Last year's floods in the North and the Central Plains were caused by unusually high rainfall brought by several storms and typhoons, he said.

On Friday, the Bhumibol Dam held a record 11.8 billion cubic metres of water or around 87% of its storage capacity of 13.5 billion cu/m.

On the same day last year, the dam held only about 7.8 billion cu/m of water in its reservoir.

On Friday, the Sirikit Dam, which has a capacity of 9.5 billion cu/m, was holding 8.2 billion cu/m of water or 86% of its capacity.

The water volume at the same time last year was 6.9 billion cu/m.

"The figure is very scary. We have to take water management seriously since we cannot control rainfall," he said.

Mr Sombat said he supported a suggestion from a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expert that water from the dam be released at twice the volume of last year to ensure the floods are not repeated.

Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said a monitoring process is needed to ensure the government's flood prevention master plan is implemented transparently.

Mr Arkhom said 25 organisations involved in water-related work are implementing the plan, drawn up since last year's floods. A committee should be established to coordinate their work, he said. He said the government should also produce a map showing the location of each project under the plan.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/276343/water-levels-in-dams-cary