New ministry to handle water

The government will establish a new ministry in an effort to consolidate its management of the nation’s water resources.

The decision was reached at a meeting of the national water resources policy steering committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

With as many as 38 government organisations implementing their water resources management policy under various laws independently of each other, it has proven to be difficult to effectively coordinate the push to improve the country’s water management system, he said.

The government wants all of these organisations to coordinate their work instead of working separately, to ensure the kingdom’s water resources are managed as efficiently as possible, he said.

With a crisis looming on the horizon, the government has found it necessary to establish a new ministry tasked specifically with managing the nation’s water resources, the deputy PM added.

The Office of the National Water Resources, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Thailand Development Research Institute and other organisations involved in water management have been assigned to draft a blueprint for the ministry, expected within 30 days.

A spokesman for Gen Prawit, Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich, said climate change is affecting the nation’s water supplies as Thailand’s demand for water continues to grow, causing sporadic shortages which will only worsen without proper management.

The system currently in place sees multiple agencies working independently of one another, making it difficult to synchronise their efforts, especially given their differing budgets, he said.

There are way too many organisations responsible for managing the country’s water resources, most of which were more focused on investing in water management infrastructure than improving the efficiency of existing structures.