Dams to be kept 50 to 60% full
Play
The government is adjusting its water-management plan in line with His Majesty's advice and the current situation. Under the new scheme, the volume of water in dams will no longer be kept at or below 45 per cent of their total capacity.
“Water levels in some dams might be allowed to hit 50 or 60 per cent,” Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said, adding that the proposal to set up a forest-development company was a good idea.
The Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development (SCRF) had made this proposal in line with the King’s advice. In an audience granted to Yingluck and two government panels on Friday, His Majesty emphasised the importance of forestation as a flood-prevention measure.
Damrong Pidej, chief of the department of Wildlife, National Parks and Plant Conservation, said yesterday that he would convene a meeting of relevant officials for a plan to plant 80 million saplings in the country’s upstream areas.
“We will focus on the basins of Ping, Wang, Yom, Nan, Sakae Krang, Pa Sak, Chao Phraya and Tha Chin rivers,” he said.
Last year’s flood crisis hit the country hard, killing hundreds of people, submerging seven industrial estates and swamping millions of homes.
In a bid to prevent flooding this year, the Yingluck-led government initially suggested that the water level at dams be left no higher than 45 per cent and insisted that dams should be used for flood prevention, not irrigation purposes. However, after emerging from the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Yingluck said the Royal Irrigation Department was now instructed to ensure that there is enough water for irrigation as well.
“The department needs to decide how much water will be stored in dams. It should be an appropriate level,” she said.
Yingluck added that relevant authorities needed to take into account the issue of both flood prevention and adequate water supply. “The current situation seems to suggest that drought might be on its way,” she said.
The Cabinet yesterday set up the Water and Flood Policy Committee (WFPC) and Water and Flood Management Committee (WFMC) to address the issue of water management. The WFPC will be chaired by the prime minister and the WFMC by Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee.
Dr Anond Snidvongs, an expert in climate change and water management, will sit on both committees and double as their assistant secretary. The Bangkok governor is also a member of the WFPC.
