The drought no one talks about

[Brunolem]

I imagine that my amphoe in Sisaket province is not the only place in the country in the grip of a severe drought.

Water pumps stop working one after the other and people have to buy their water from tank trucks.

Water reservoirs are at very low level, if not already empty.

Meanwhile the sun is burning the vegetation and everyone unconscious enough to move out of the shade.

And there is no sign that weather patterns are going to change anytime soon.

More pain may be in store for the farmers who don't really need it.

How is the water situation in your area?

[simoh1490]

The rest of the country appears to be in good shape, water levels in the reservoirs are still almost 60% which is excellent for this time of the year. http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/rid_dam_1.php?lang=en

[Brunolem]

53 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

The rest of the country appears to be in good shape, water levels in the reservoirs are still almost 60% which is excellent for this time of the year. http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/ridj_dam_1.php?lang=e

What help do these reservoirs bring to villagers and farmers located far away from them?

Edited April 14, 2018 by Brunolem

[robblok]

7 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

What help do these reservoirs bring to villagers and farmers located far away from them?

Not much, but I think the rest of the country does not have your problem. Here we had more rain then usual during the dry season. As you see all the dams hold loads of water enough to get through the drought. If there are no reservoirs near you your screwed. 

[simoh1490]

58 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

What help do these reservoirs bring to villagers and farmers located far away from them?

Surely there must be a reservoir that serves your area?

[Brunolem]

10 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Surely there must be a reservoir that serves your area?

There is water delivered, but it is not the same as having water on site.

Reservoirs are here for security, to help so that people don't run out of water, but they cannot be used by farmers to grow crops, for example, otherwise they would quickly dry out.

[simoh1490]

9 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

There is water delivered, but it is not the same as having water on site.

Reservoirs are here for security, to help so that people don't run out of water, but they cannot be used by farmers to grow crops, for example, otherwise they would quickly dry out.

I think you don't understand.

 

The reservoirs are catchment areas, typically located in mountainous terrain. From there a distribution network controlled by sluices channels the water to areas of use and need and to an overflow area, these are typically a mixture of drainage canals and smaller Klongs. 

 

Our garden is home to a klong that runs through the middle of it, it's fed from the reservoir in Mae Tang some 22 kms away, it feeds the surrounding rice paddies, your area must have similar. There's no point in having a reservoir just for for security, they are designed and function as water feeds to the farming community.

 

[Brunolem]

52 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I think you don't understand.

 

The reservoirs are catchment areas, typically located in mountainous terrain. From there a distribution network controlled by sluices channels the water to areas of use and need and to an overflow area, these are typically a mixture of drainage canals and smaller Klongs. 

 

Our garden is home to a klong that runs through the middle of it, it's fed from the reservoir in Mae Tang some 22 kms away, it feeds the surrounding rice paddies, your area must have similar. There's no point in having a reservoir just for for security, they are designed and function as water feeds to the farming community.

 

Eastern Isaan is flat as far as the eye can see.

So there are no natural collection of water running along slopes and no khlong and irrigation systems at all.

There are a few reservoirs which, as far as I know, collect water from rivers during the high rain season.

I don't know how this water is used, but we certainly don't see any of it around here.

 

More generally, this is now our second drought in 3 years and I have been thinking for a long time that, sooner or later, large parts of Isaan will become semi-desert, because this is what often happens after major deforestation in tropical areas.

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Eastern Isaan is flat as far as the eye can see.

So there are no natural collection of water running along slopes and no khlong and irrigation systems at all.

There are a few reservoirs which, as far as I know, collect water from rivers during the high rain season.

I don't know how this water is used, but we certainly don't see any of it around here.

 

More generally, this is now our second drought in 3 years and I have been thinking for a long time that, sooner or later, large parts of Isaan will become semi-desert, because this is what often happens after major deforestation in tropical areas.

I recommend you move! That said, you might want to invest some of your considerable energies into understanding which reservoirs serve your area and why they do not do so effectively.

 

 

[Lungstib]

I live east of Thaton, not far from the Mae Kok river but have a similar situation in that our village doesn't appear to have much of a water catchment and supplies very little water through a recently installed primitive pipe system. Most people depend on a well dug in their own garden and last year most went dry. Then we bought water. I made big efforts at the end of that dry season to encourage more water to sink into the ground instead of just run off. I terraced all the garden many of them slightly sloped so that the water stayed 3 inches deep before it ran into the next terrace. Prior to this water had run into a ditch and flowed out the garden and into the river system. We had a good wet season, not massive downpours , good steady rain and this hot season hasn't been either as hot or as long as last year. Hence I'm not sure if my efforts really worked or if it just wasn't as dry. But I understand your problem, not all local govts deliver regular water. The other answer is catch rainwater in big cement tanks. There are some good ideas on youtube in countries like Jordan or Israel where they show water catching ideas. Sadly the national govt here has shown no interest in regreening Isaan since its deforestation. It can be done but its a big scale thing. See Loess Plateau, China for how. My wife recently visited Isaan and said compared to the north it was very dry. Do it yourself is the answer if you have a bit of cash for the materials..

[kickstart]

2 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

I think you don't understand.

 

The reservoirs are catchment areas, typically located in mountainous terrain. From there a distribution network controlled by sluices channels the water to areas of use and need and to an overflow area, these are typically a mixture of drainage canals and smaller Klongs. 

 

Our garden is home to a klong that runs through the middle of it, it's fed from the reservoir in Mae Tang some 22 kms away, it feeds the surrounding rice paddies, your area must have similar. There's no point in having a reservoir just for for security, they are designed and function as water feeds to the farming community.

 

You are correct, I live a stone throw from the Passak dam, in Lopburi, water is stored with  water from the Passak river during the rainy season, not the biggest dam in Thailand but a fair size, water is used by the local farmers ,in fact there is a concrete  canal system covering the whole of this area, all for irrigating crops .this system works by water being pumped in to concrete water towers, which gives it  enough  head to flow in to the canal system  

No water is taken for household use, we have, village water tower at the end of our soi that does all the house in the area water is pumped from an underground supply.

I would say nearly all the houses in our Aumphur, will use an underground supply, some on local mains like us, some on they own underground supply, this area is predominantly a rural agriculture one.

I would say most dams would be for agriculture use more than household use.

Looking at the data report I would say most Issan dams have a lot of water in them for the time of year, more so than our own Passak dam ,and we are not short of water.

[torrzent]

The first rule of fight club is....

[carlyai]

14 hours ago, torrzent said:

The first rule of fight club is....

Panic.

 

[stropper]

our farm is out at si that, 150 ks from udon thani, we have all ready had good rain this year, it is raining now nit nou, now heavy, people all around are  planting now , which is unusually early, the small river is still quite full and our 2 bores are going none stop, the water table is still good, our second crop of cane is looking good after being cut in late january, looks like being a great season , good luck bobs

[stropper]

17 hours ago, Brunolem said:

Eastern Isaan is flat as far as the eye can see.

So there are no natural collection of water running along slopes and no khlong and irrigation systems at all.

There are a few reservoirs which, as far as I know, collect water from rivers during the high rain season.

I don't know how this water is used, but we certainly don't see any of it around here.

 

More generally, this is now our second drought in 3 years and I have been thinking for a long time that, sooner or later, large parts of Isaan will become semi-desert, because this is what often happens after major deforestation in tropical areas.

read about when they bought eucaliptus trees from australia in about 1900, thailand was as you say headed for  a desert but they turned it around, maybe its time to do it again bobs

 

[Brunolem]

25 minutes ago, stropper said:

read about when they bought eucaliptus trees from australia in about 1900, thailand was as you say headed for  a desert but they turned it around, maybe its time to do it again bobs

 

Not all of Thailand is turning into a desert, but large parts of Isaan probably will.

It is well known that the rainforest, which covered Isaan not so long ago, creates its own rainfalls, and that once cut down the rain becomes more and more unfrequent, and when it falls it tends to quickly evaporate instead of being kept by the vegetation.

It's a feedback loop, a bit similar to what is happening in Arctic, yet at the opposite extreme...

[simoh1490]

4 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Not all of Thailand is turning into a desert, but large parts of Isaan probably will.

It is well known that the rainforest, which covered Isaan not so long ago, creates its own rainfalls, and that once cut down the rain becomes more and more unfrequent, and when it falls it tends to quickly evaporate instead of being kept by the vegetation.

It's a feedback loop, a bit similar to what is happening in Arctic, yet at the opposite extreme...

Not long ago, like around the time of last ice age  perhaps!

Edited April 15, 2018 by simoh1490

[Brunolem]

54 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Not long ago, like around the time of last ice age  perhaps!

Believe it or not, when my wife's grandfather was young, around 1950, it was difficult to move around in Isaan because of the...tigers!

Destruction was swift...

Edited April 15, 2018 by Brunolem

[Lungstib]

2 hours ago, Brunolem said:

Believe it or not, when my wife's grandfather was young, around 1950, it was difficult to move around in Isaan because of the...tigers!

Destruction was swift...

My wife was born here on the Thai/Burma border where the Mae Kok flows almost from West to East through to Chiang Rai. She is 57. She tells me the valley here was a jungle, parrots and monkeys in the trees, tigers in the forests, river full of fish. All that main valley has been deforested, orange farms everywhere spraying weed and insect killer every few weeks. No wildlife, few fish, soil erosion, some small flooding and farmers who haven't been educated to deal with the new environment. We need experts coming to teach the concepts needed and government help but nothing happens. My neighbours rich soil is disappearing into the stream/river with every wet season and he doesn't even know it.

[Shaunduhpostman]

Just north of you in Kalasin and Mahsarakham, 2017 rainy season, we had the worst flooding in 50 years. Of course flooding doesn't necessarily mean the heaviest rains, but at some point rain is needed to create floods. So, what the op says is a bit odd, tho I am not doubting it, just think there is something not understood or missing from the story. Or perhaps, its just a phenomena of micro-climates but it rained a lot in Kalasin this past year and the rainy season is already starting here, torrential rains for hours this morning in fact.

 

Perhaps you weren;t around during the rainy season last year. It would not surprise me though even if there was heavy rain in your area that there would be nothing to show for it in the reservoirs etc. They are already turning the water off on us for 5-6 hours a day here. Not often but it has started well before that usually kicks in.

 

Isaan is being industrialized mostly by the Chinese and this will all require water. I doubt even the slightest thought will be given to who the water is being taken from let alone any mention in the media.

[carlyai]

I imagine that my amphoe in Sisaket province is not the only place in the country in the grip of a severe drought.
Water pumps stop working one after the other and people have to buy their water from tank trucks.
Water reservoirs are at very low level, if not already empty.
Meanwhile the sun is burning the vegetation and everyone unconscious enough to move out of the shade.
And there is no sign that weather patterns are going to change anytime soon.
More pain may be in store for the farmers who don't really need it.
How is the water situation in your area?

Sorry for your plight.

Have you investigated the aquifer/s in your area?

This was advice given to me a few years ago.
'There is a Department of Groundwater Resources that maintain an office in each providence. Go to them with a well dressed Thai friend and politely request GW maps for your area - they will have them but may need some persuasion to allow you to see them.... I saw some maps many years ago and they are pretty detailed, with geological formations, depths of aquifers, salt effected areas and potential FW yeilds....large parts of the region overlie a large salt layer...Mun-Chi basin salt dome.'

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk

[Brunolem]

18 hours ago, Lungstib said:

My wife was born here on the Thai/Burma border where the Mae Kok flows almost from West to East through to Chiang Rai. She is 57. She tells me the valley here was a jungle, parrots and monkeys in the trees, tigers in the forests, river full of fish. All that main valley has been deforested, orange farms everywhere spraying weed and insect killer every few weeks. No wildlife, few fish, soil erosion, some small flooding and farmers who haven't been educated to deal with the new environment. We need experts coming to teach the concepts needed and government help but nothing happens. My neighbours rich soil is disappearing into the stream/river with every wet season and he doesn't even know it.

This unfortunately confirms what I have heard regarding the near past in Isaan.

As for the experts and the help, I wouldn't count on it...and anyway the villagers wouldn't listen.

They can't make the difference between good and bad advice, and generally follow the latter, or the one that involves the less work.

In my area, for example, they consider that it is not good to prune the trees...so we have to try to get the mangoes hanging 10 meters above ground, and everytime there is a bit of wind the electricty is cut for hours because a tree, or a branch, has fallen on a cable!

 

They don't even know that to keep the soil from running away with the rain, something, even basic grass, must grow on it...so every year they order trucks of earth in order to replace the one gone during the previous rain season!

[Brunolem]

16 hours ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

Just north of you in Kalasin and Mahsarakham, 2017 rainy season, we had the worst flooding in 50 years. Of course flooding doesn't necessarily mean the heaviest rains, but at some point rain is needed to create floods. So, what the op says is a bit odd, tho I am not doubting it, just think there is something not understood or missing from the story. Or perhaps, its just a phenomena of micro-climates but it rained a lot in Kalasin this past year and the rainy season is already starting here, torrential rains for hours this morning in fact.

 

Perhaps you weren;t around during the rainy season last year. It would not surprise me though even if there was heavy rain in your area that there would be nothing to show for it in the reservoirs etc. They are already turning the water off on us for 5-6 hours a day here. Not often but it has started well before that usually kicks in.

 

Isaan is being industrialized mostly by the Chinese and this will all require water. I doubt even the slightest thought will be given to who the water is being taken from let alone any mention in the media.

As Carlyai explains in the post following yours, what really matters in the long run is the aquifer, or natural water reservoir.

Flooding is not a good thing, since most of the water simply runs to the nearest river instead of slowly penetrating the soil.

Last year rain season was really wet indeed, but here is what has happened since the actual government took charge.

First, as is well known, they abruptly cancelled the rice subsidies, effectively cutting its selling price from the farm by 50%.

Following this (financially) disastrous decision, they encouraged the farmers to grow other crops, such as vegetables, during the dry season...which they have done, with the results we now see for the aquifer.

As a matter of fact, these new crops require huge quantities of water to grow under the sun for months.

This is the source of the problem, and it is not going to be solved anytime soon, since the locals have yet to figure out that this source is their unsustainable actions, and not bad luck.

[jcisco]

I've noted that almost all water storage on private land up country are completely exposed to the sun. No effort taken to cover their storage, or build in ground and above ground storage tanks. Simply covering your reservoir with rubber tiers filled by expanded styrofoam will reduce the water loss by evaporation by 80%, you can pick them up relatively cheap, as is the foam. You only need to replace the foam every few years, and is generally the easiest and cheapest method to save water.  

Shade coverings are more complex and expensive and suffer problems with wind, weight and durability,  

[sandyf]

On 4/14/2018 at 7:04 PM, Brunolem said:

 

More generally, this is now our second drought in 3 years and I have been thinking for a long time that, sooner or later, large parts of Isaan will become semi-desert, because this is what often happens after major deforestation in tropical areas.

Our weather must have moved north, we haven't had a dry season in 3 years. I have lived here in Chonburi for about 10 years and used to be very dry, some years we did not see rain from mid Nov until into May. Towards the end of the last dry season I laid pipes all around the garden and created a fairly comprehensive sprinkler system,have yet to put it into use.

It is mainly coconuts, tapioca and sugar cane grown around here. Your area may well have to adapt to a changing weather pattern.

[FritsSikkink]

On ‎15‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 2:16 PM, Brunolem said:

Believe it or not, when my wife's grandfather was young, around 1950, it was difficult to move around in Isaan because of the...tigers!

Destruction was swift...

So why cut all the trees in the first place and then ask for help.

[Brunolem]

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

So why cut all the trees in the first place and then ask for help.

The trees were cut by those who "colonized" Isaan some decades ago, to replace the rainforest with rice paddies!

The same has happened unfortunately to most rainforests over the world.

[rickudon]

Weather can be a lottery. Even the next village may get something different. At ours in Udon Thani, near the city. last wet season was very wet. And a good job too, because since October we had just one day of rain before Songkran, driest dry season in 10 years. Is climate changing? Probably, and probably as said getting drier on average. Irrigation is fine - if you get it. Most farmers in Isaan do not.

 

Education, education, education. Unfortunately the government advisors need it as much as the farmers do. There is little attempt to help the farmers change what they do - just the usual rote advice as given 30 years ago.

 

Trying to change what is grown needs both a market and government incentives. In Isaan i see little sign of either in my area. Paddies just reverting to scrub. Maybe this is a policy to promote 'natural regeneration' of the forest, without spending any money!

[TPI]

Sacrifice a chicken to "Huey" (the rain god), dance and sing his praises and eventually the rain will come.......it's always worked for me here in Phrae!