Droughts in monsoon season a wake-up call
The serious drought hitting Thai farmers this monsoon season demonstrates more than ever the need for regional cooperation in water management. Given the considerable stress and economic hardship being caused by unseasonably dry conditions, people are looking for someone to blame and fingers are being pointed at the dams of our upstream neighbours along the Mekong River, China and Laos.
Fortunately, some relief is already taking place. Late last month the Thai government asked China, Laos and Myanmar to release more water into rivers to help relieve the drought conditions in Thailand and they cooperated. This demonstrates the importance of agreements such as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation between China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; the Mekong River Commission (MRC), and the Asean working group on water resources management.
But while this is helpful in managing existing resources, we also need long-term planning to cope with climate challenges and future needs. The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) predicts that by 2050 the world will face a water shortage of about 40%, at which point neighbourly goodwill won’t be enough to alleviate the problem.
Long-term planning must focus on agriculture, especially in Southeast Asia where farming already accounts for about 80% of water consumption.
The region is dominated by traditional smallscale farms with inefficient water resource management. This problem is particularly acute in Thailand, according to the Rio+20 global survey of water security in 2012. It indicated that freshwater availability in Thailand was 6,382 cubic metres per capita, well below the average of 22,167 globally and 19,205 in Asean.
Water shortages will inevitably worsen in line with growing populations and rising demand for water. A report by the Australian research institute Future Directions International suggested improving the productivity of soils, crops and farming technology to mitigate water shortages.
This will be difficult given the limited economies of scale of the region’s traditional farms. Significant investment in irrigation and drainage systems is also needed. Even Thailand, which has better agricultural infrastructure than most neighbouring countries, currently irrigates less than a quarter of its farmland.
While we hope rainfall will increase and ease the current hardship, droughts will happen again and so we need to focus on the future and how we can manage water more sustainably. Thailand’s plans for smart farming are a step in the right direction, but they can be developed further through constructive dialogue and collaboration with our partners in the region.