'Monkey cheeks' backed over dam
Water retention area 'may be better solution than Mae Wong dam'
Top Water Resources officials want the government to build “monkey cheeks” – a retention area – as a way to manage flood and drought problems in the Sakae Krang watershed, instead of building a dam in the Mae Wong National Park.
“I do not oppose the dam project but building a dam would take a lot of time. It won’t resolve flood and drought problems in the near future,” department director-general Jatuphon Burutphat told The Nation.
“The department will make a recommendation to the government to build ‘monkey cheeks’ in Sakae Krang watershed to retain water,” Jatuphon said.
The Sakae Krang is a tributary of the Chao Phraya River.
Water Resources staff are working on 10 projects – worth Bt42 million – to develop watershed areas in Nakhon Sawan and Uthai Thani provinces. These projects, expected to be finished by the end of this year, aim to resolve flood and drought problems in local areas over the long term.
The Mae Wong Dam project was proposed by the Royal Irrigation Department and approved in principle by Cabinet on April 10. The government would spend about Bt13 billion to construct the dam in Mae Wong National Park in Nakhon Sawan province.
The dam is aimed at resolving flood and drought problems and is expected to retain 258 million cubic metres of water and help irrigate more than 291,900-rai of arable land in Nakhon Sawan, Khampaeng Phet and Uthai Thani.
But Water Resources officials learnt recently that a major dam in Uthai Thani province – located not far from Mae Wong dam site – has been unable to deliver sufficient water to farmers over 10 years of operating.
“Local people in Nakhon Sawan province’s Lat Yao district last week asked us to develop 700 rai of land as ‘monkey cheeks’ to retain water for them. You see, there is an alternative way [to dams] to resolve such problems,” he said.
To date, the government has allocated Bt5 billion to the department for 1,585 projects to resolve flood and drought problems in several areas. Water Resources officials will improve watershed areas across the country by building ‘monkey cheek’ areas and maintenance canals. About 60 per cent of these projects have been done and the rest are expected to be finished by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, a Cabinet resolution in 2009 required all projects in watershed areas to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and seek approval from the National Environment Board’s Experts Panel before allowing any construction to go ahead.
The Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP)’s new secretary, General Wichan Simachaya, said the department would ask the government to permit a “short cut” and not require environmental experts to assess EIAs for projects, under the plan to reduce damage from flooding. It will be submitted directly to the NEB or its sub-committee and sent to the Cabinet for approval.
“If the report is sent to the environmental expert panel, it would take a lot of processes and time. This would delay the plan to prevent flooding this year,” he said.
