Brimming dams pose severe threat

By PRATCH RUJIVANAROM 
THE NATION

 

Officials in Petchaburi install pumps to drain water from the reservoir of the Kraeng Krachan Dam amid concerns that disaster was looming.

 

People in western provinces urged to move to higher ground as more water to be released from reservoirs.

 

MANY dams in the western region are rapidly filling up due to heavy downpours, with the situation at Kaeng Krachan Dam being of the greatest concern.

 

The reservoir was expected to reach maximum capacity last night.

 

 

The provinces of Phetchaburi, Kanchanaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan are bracing for floods, as the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) issued a warning yesterday that many of the large dams in the area were nearly full from continuous rains.

 

More water will have to be released from the dams to keep the levels stable, but it could cause floods in the downstream areas, the RID said.

 

 

The RID’s Smart Water Operation Centre reported that the water level in the Kaeng Krachan Dam in Phetchaburi, Srinagarind Dam and Vajiralongkorn Dam in Kanchanaburi and Pranburi Dam in Prachuap Khiri Khan had risen rapidly and all were close to full capacity.

 

The level in Kaeng Krachan Dam was at 99 per cent capacity yesterday, at Srinagarind Dam 87 per cent, at Vajiralongkorn Dam 84 per cent and at Pranburi Dam 78 per cent.

 

RID director-general Thongplew Kongjun said real-time information showed the water level at Kaeng Krachan Dam’s reservoir, as of yesterday, had risen to the critical level of 701 million cubic metres. The dam’s capacity is 710 million cubic metres.

 

Considering the continuous huge volumes of water inflows, Thongplew said the dam would be full by last night, sending the excess water through the spillways.

 

 

According to the RID, the amount of water flowing into Kaeng Krachan Dam yesterday was 21.4 million cubic metres – far more than the outflow of 9.61 million cubic metres. It was expected that the water level in the reservoir would reach capacity by 10pm yesterday.

 

Thongplew assured that the drainage through the spillway would not damage the dam’s structure and the outflow would take around 32 hours to reach the lower part of the Phetchaburi River. 

 

He urged people downstream to prepare for flooding.

 

Bureau warns of heavy rainfall

 

He said every increase of water drainage rate at 10 cubic metres per second through the Kaeng Krachan Dam’s spillway would raise the level in the Phetchaburi River by 10 to 15 centimetres and affect low-lying areas downstream.

 

 

He urged people living along the river in Kaeng Krachan, Tha Yang, Ban Lat, Muang Phetchaburi and Ban Laem districts to closely monitor the water level in the river, move their belongings to higher ground, and evacuate children, elderly and sick persons from flood-risk areas.

 

Meteorological Department director-general Wanchai Sakudomchai warned that Thailand will receive more rain during the next few days as a result of the stronger southwestern monsoon, especially in western region, which is directly facing the monsoon.

 

Ben Petcharapiracht, a Phetchaburi resident, said people in the province were worried about the situation and actively preparing their homes for the expected flooding.

 

“Phetchaburi has experienced flooding three years in a row, which is very strange. But the people are most concerned about the period of this flood, as it is the first time I have heard the dam getting full, especially with three more months of rains to endure,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30351494

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-08-06

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

It would be so interesting to compare the sandbagging and diversion efforts to doing absolutely nithing whatsoever. My guess is that the overall damage would be comparable either way. You have folks who report in these forums their homes get flooded because of the diversion efforts. 

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

Those words of reassurance came from the Secretary-General of the National Water Resources which was not long ago placed under the control of the Prime Minister's Department with the Prime Minister appointing himself as Chairman of the NWR Commission.

Should any disaster occur because of mismanagement of water resources, including dams etc. then one does not have to look far to point the finger of blame. Of course if there is no disaster it goes without saying he will crow from the rooftops.

This TVN story confirms that the NWR is now directly under the control of the Prime Minister. To quote....."The National Water Resources Management Office is a newly created water management agency, directly under the command of the Prime Minister". 

 

Edited August 5, 20187 yr by Cadbury

I notice Pranburi DAM was  getting very full about 6  months ago, when I moved here it has been  ( unbeknown) to me very dry fr the last 5  years. But last year 2017 there was a little  bit  more rain, this year 2018 there has been a lot of rain ALL year.

Now if  I noticed this then surely the locals did too. I went up to the dam 4-5  times this year out of curiosity as I saw the amount of rain we'd  had in Jan to June. Normally if we were  lucky it might rain once or twice in that time frame over the last 5  years

Pranburi dam could have been lowered MONTHS ago as it was already way  fuller than Ive ever  seen it in  those 5  years...........only now are they panic emptying it.................Following my late Dads  advice I always  bought land on a  hill, the Dams outflow is about 30 metres  lower than my land and Im 16km from it.

AND the wettest months have yet to come SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Edited August 5, 20187 yr by kannot

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

its no repeat these are "new"  floodings?

Need a little Dutch kid with his finger in the whole. The problem is a centralised government located in Bangkok that appears to only think of one thing. I am very sad. The farmers are innovative people, they just need help.

Just what the countryside doesn't need, millions of those ugly plastic sandbags.

Even Led Zeppelin, as wasted as they were, knew this was going to happen. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwiTs60VoTM

Not to worry - soon be the drought season.

Is this the same every year? Wait until the dams are near full before releasing some?

20 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

Is this the same every year? Wait until the dams are near full before releasing some?

As long as the government du jour continue to have the memory and attention span of the proverbial goldfish, of course it will happen every single time.

'Learn from previous mistakes' - not a bureaucratic trait.

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Smart Water Operation Centre???

This term is as absurd as "The happy match operation center" for a Dynamite Nobel factory.

Now let's wait for some enlightened ones to get wet.

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Those words of reassurance came from the Secretary-General of the National Water Resources which was not long ago placed under the control of the Prime Minister's Department with the Prime Minister appointing himself as Chairman of the NWR Commission.

Should any disaster occur because of mismanagement of water resources, including dams etc. then one does not have to look far to point the finger of blame. Of course if there is no disaster it goes without saying he will crow from the rooftops.

This TVN story confirms that the NWR is now directly under the control of the Prime Minister. To quote....."The National Water Resources Management Office is a newly created water management agency, directly under the command of the Prime Minister". 

 

so... now that mismanagement has finally started to overflow at the highest levels of hot air, 

it's again time for another case of 'the buck stops here'

 and another highest ranking leader will have to flee before being arrested!

 

 

micro managing PMs never learn do they!

should leave the problem child situations with someone at a lower level of culpability , to wear the heat on his behalf

 

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by tifino

4 hours ago, ukrules said:

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

It's just a figment of yours & everybody else's  imagination.

A couple of weeks ago they told us - no way will the dams get full - no problem - relax - have another one...……...

Meanwhile, the 'Kong has just burst it's banks from Nong Khai thru to Mukdahan and everywhere in between.

And we are just into early August.....

Complete imbeciles - the lot of them.

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

Do you believe everything you are told?☺

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

Thais are the true masters of the yo-yo game

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

Just two days ago we were told there is going to be 'No repeat of devastating 2011 floods'....

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1051132-no-repeat-of-devastating-2011-floods/

And we all know it's a freaking lie every year insanity. 

Only take action when there is problem - Thai style!

 

How are the dams feeding into Chao Praya this year?

Already getting nearly full or can they still take plenty of rain?

It's coming and there nothing we can do about it now?

2 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

Just what the countryside doesn't need, millions of those ugly plastic sandbags.

I will read that as a joke.

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by lvr181
Grammar correction

58 minutes ago, dave moir said:

Do you believe everything you are told?☺

No BUT those who say it do! 

 

"Stupid is as stupid does."

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by lvr181
Additional comment

I live by the river that is fed by the two large reservoirs in Kanchanaburi. I keep an eye on the contents and water released mainly for the purpose of fishing. The Srinakarin reservoir was at 80% capacity at the start of the rainy season so only themselves to blame. The Vira........ reservoir was at about 50%. About two months ago the inflow to the Vira... reservoir got to 200MCM in a day (2.5% capacity), if that was not a sign that they should have started releasing more water back then I don't know what is. They only seemed to become concerned when it reached 80%.

"But, but - we never saw this coming!"  -- Thailand 2011 Floods

 

(fast forward 7 years)

"But, but - we never saw this coming!"  -- Thailand 2018 Floods

Pssst.  Why don't you contract with the Dutch to create a proactive, country-wide water management solution?
<silence> 

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by connda

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Is this the same every year? Wait until the dams are near full before releasing some?

It's a crap shoot every year as they have no idea if this will be a "wet" year or a "dry" year.
Remember it was just 2 years ago (2016) that they were asking rice farmers not to plant a second crop as the water levels in the dams were very low after a "rainy season" that didn't leave much rain. 
All the news stories then were about how the water levels in the dams hadn't been that low in decades and that the region was experiencing a drought. 

Feast or famine. If they'd lowered the water levels in anticipation of a "wet" year and that didn't happen, they'd be in a different crisis come later in the year when they started running out of water. or they wait and try to lower the levels as fast as they are rising but can't because they tend to rise faster than they can be lowered (without wiping out large hunks of the country downstream).

They need to improve the canals and drainage systems to so that when they do have huge excesses of water, they have somewhere to drain it off to that won't result in thousands of homes and farms being flooded every year. Not an easy task when you consider how much rain Thailand gets every year (when it's a "wet" year at least) !

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

As long as the government du jour continue to have the memory and attention span of the proverbial goldfish, of course it will happen every single time.

'Learn from previous mistakes' - not a bureaucratic trait.

 

Of cource this haven't happened during previous governments,

Been up for a  quick shifty, they have everything open to get the level down, its  not going to overflow soon but its  high, normally the island has a  shore and the level is  a lot  lower, same island 5  years ago in last shot with old  Burma staff

1 minute ago, Vacuum said:

Of cource this haven't happened during previous governments,

I think that is the point he was making.

Did anyone else read that as “Damn Brits pose a serious threat”?

Edited August 6, 20187 yr by NotThatGuy