Khon Kaen farmers race to harvest paddy as over-capacity dam threatens flooding

Farmers were told to be prepared for the possible flooding of paddy fields as they are ready to harvest because Ubolratana Dam in Khon Kaen was increasing its daily discharge to 21 million cubic metres per day. The dam is now deemed to be at 103-per-cent safe capacity.
Irrigation Office 6 director Pricha Janthong said people who live near the Chi River should prepare for possible flooding in low-lying areas.
“Heavy rain of up to 200 millimetres during the past few days in the upper reaches [above the dam] issued large amounts of water into the reservoir and made the water storage increase beyond maximum capacity,” Pricha said.
“We need to discharge more water, from 15 million cubic metres to 21 million cubic metres, starting from today until next week. This is to relieve the flood situation on the upper side,” Pricha said yesterday.
According to the Royal Irrigation Department, Ubolratana reservoir held 2,496 million cubic metres of water yesterday, and nearly 200,000 rai (32,000 hectares) of farmland had already flooded above the dam.
After the warning, downstream farmers in Khon Kaen were hurrying to harvest their crops.
Anong Manchamuk, a farmer in Ubol Rattana district, said farmers in the area were trying to first harvest from fields that were more prone to flooding to avoid the loss of their crops.
“I am very worried that my crop will be damaged, because I invested so much in the field and right now the paddy is nearly ripe and ready to harvest,” Anong said.
She said her crop would be destroyed if the river overflows and floods her fields because there was not enough labour available to harvest the paddy immediately. Paddy from flooded fields has high moisture levels and sells for very low prices.
Meanwhile, Maha Sarakham Governor Sanae Nonthachot said relevant agencies were ready to help farmers.
“We are closely monitoring the water situation and ready to deploy officers to help the farmers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We also suggest that people monitor the water situation and prepare for possible floods in low-lying area as well,” Sanae said.