Bhumibol Dam closes emergency spillway
As of Thursday's afternoon, Bhumibol Dam has closed its emergency spillway, ending the release of more than 100 million cubic meters per day and expecting to ease off the inundation of the downstream areas.
The spillway was opened last week in order to keep water retention at 99 per cent of capacity. The emergency release of water exacerbated the inundation of Chao Phraya basin in the Central Region.
Dam director Boon-in Chuenchavalit said the released water would return to normalcy at 60 million cubic meters per day to generate electricity.
Wednesday water pouring into the dam reservoir reduced to about 82 million cubic meters, allowing the shut-down of the spillway.
Water retention remains close to 99 per cent of capacity.
The waters from the dam and the Yom River would combine to make the Ping River's water flow at 1,100 cubic meters per second, which is within acceptable limit. The lowering rate of water flow would start to dissipate the floods in Nakhon Sawan in the next few days.
