Drought tipped to drag on till mid-2016

DROUGHT will be more severe and could drag on until at least next May, water experts have warned.

They have advised farmers to adopt new farming styles  or look for jobs as a way to avoid loss from the dry conditions in the near future.

Discussing the drought at a forum at Kasetsart University, they said losses in the rice-producing sector could top Bt1 billion after three bad seasons in a row. The experts suggested farmers not rely on irrigation water and adjust their farming activities to respond to the drought challenges.

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Kasetsart University, Bancha Kwanyuen, said calculations from the Royal Irrigation Department revealed that water in the four major dams in the Chao Phraya River Basin was at its lowest level on record.

“Since the dams were built, this is the first time we have seen such a serious water shortage problem. We only have 2,589 million cubic metres of available water in the four major dams,” Bancha said.

Secretary-General of the Office of Agricultural Economics Lersak Rewtarkulpaiboon said this lowest water storage on record was due to a natural factor two years in a row in which we received a much lower than average rain; and man-made factors, such as water mismanagement and higher water demand.

“Last November we had 5,000 million cubic metres of available water in four major dams. So last dry season we faced a water shortage problem, but given the unusually dry rainy season this year, we hoped that we could store up to 3,600 million cubic metres of available water in October. [But] as we speak, in mid-September, we still need more than 1,000 million cubic metres of water,” Lersak said.

“We definitely will endure a more serious drought in the upcoming dry season and therefore we have no water left for rice production,” he said.

With the drought expected to get worse, a water management expert from the Department of Water Resource Engineering at Kasetsart University, Suwatana Chittaladakorn, admitted there was nothing that could be done to improve the drought situation now  only promote a shift in farming methods and a water saving campaign.

“Farmers in the irrigation zone will be the group most affected by the drought because they just plant the crops and wait for the irrigation water to come  unlike the farmers outside the irrigation zone, who know better how to adjust their farming patterns to the drought,” Suwatana stated.

He suggested farmers should change to crops that need less water, or adopt poly-culture farming, raise animals or find another career.

For farmers outside the irrigation zone, he advised them to create a water supply such as digging wells or ponds, cultivating short-life plants, halting farming if there was no water, or change to a job.

“The farmers need to be more flexible to the uneven weather pattern due to climate change. We will face drought and flood more frequently in the near future,” he said.

Suwatana admitted compensation for farmers and the market for the new crop were still not guaranteed by the government.

He feared a water conservation campaign for people in urban areas would not be very successful, as people in the city were used to easy access to water.

“Every year more than 1,000 cubic metres of water are used to produce tap water for the people in Bangkok. 

“It would be helpful if everyone used less water and did not expect the farmers to handle the burden for us,” he said.

 

 DRYING UP: THE RECORD

 

Water level in four major dams as of September 22:

 

BHUMIBOL 

Total available water: 783 cubic metres (8 per cent)

Inflow: 30.17 cubic metres

Outflow: 1.5 cubic metres

 

SIRIKIT 

Total available water: 1,400 cubic metres (21 per cent)

Inflow: 19.78 cubic metres

Outflow: 4 cubic metres

 

KHWAE NOI BAMRUNGDAN 

Total available water: 235 cubic metres (26 per cent)

Inflow: 3.08 cubic metres

Outflow: 0.52 cubic metres

 

PASAK JOLASID 

Total available water: 171 cubic metres (18 per cent)

Inflow: 13.29 cubic metres

Outflow: 0.00 cubic metres

 

TOTAL

Total available water: 2,589 cubic metres (14 per cent)

Inflow: 66.32 cubic metres

Outflow: 6.02 cubic metres