‘Lots of water’ for dry season

The country’s water resources are at more than 73% of full capacity and enough for use during the dry season, Office of the National Water Resources secretary-general Samroeng Sangphuwong said on Saturday.

The water available this year is sufficient for human consumption and farming, he said and added that unlike previous years there will be no announcement asking farmers not to cultivate second rice crops.

“Currently, our water storage capacity is full. We have enough water for human consumption. However, it has been analysed that 74 districts in 23 provinces are at risk of water shortages. But the government is fully prepared to helping farmers grow their second rice crops through artificial rain making and pumping water,” he said.

“An initial survey has found that farmers in the Chao Phraya River basin grow more rice and plant more than planned. The area is not too big. We are planning to send our officers to talk to them about better usage of water,” he said.

Mr Samroeng said that out of the 51,654 million cubic metres of water, 28,110 million cubic metres will be allocated for human consumption. Comparatively, last year the water level was at 44,500 million cubic metres, or 63% of the full storage capacity, with only 20,895 million cubic metres for human consumption.

However, this year the water level at the Krasiao dam in Suphan Buri is at 105% of its full capacity while water in the Bang Lang dam in Yala and the Srinagarind dam in Kanchanaburi province are at 93% and 84% of capacity.