Irrigation Dept mulls water strategy for wet season

Thongplew Kongjan, director-general of the department, said the dry season had technically ended and the wet season was about to begin.
The department is now waiting for a report from the Meteorological Department, which it will use to calculate its irrigation strategy for the wet months of the rice growing season.
The strategy must factor in dams, which cannot be allowed to drop below critical levels that safeguard future consumption and the ecosystem. The department is also preparing plans for floods during the wet season.
It estimates that 31.35 million cubic metres of water will be needed to feed 16.79 million rai of rice plants and 10.29 million rai of other crops. The Chao Phraya River will provide 11.66 million cubic metres for 10.57 million rai of crops while the Mae Klong River will supply another 4.76 million to feed 2.42 million rai of crops.
The department has advised rice farmers to plant in the third week of May when the start of the wet season brings regular rain.
The North has 5.13 million rai of rice fields, while the Central and Western region has 5.86 million rai, the Northeast 3.48 million, the East 1.34 million, and the South 0.99 million rai.
The department warned the Chao Phraya River may not have enough water to feed the 1.145 million rai of rice farms along its banks.