Water resources in EEC area being studied

[webfact]

Water resources in EEC area being studied

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation 
Rayong

 

Prasae Reservoir and its flap gate weir, which is installed to increase the water storage.

 

State agency aims to ensure that increased demands from ambitious project are met
 

WATER USAGE for all activities in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) provinces will be studied, as the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) is drafting a water management plan.

 

The plan aims to deal with increasing water demand in the EEC.

 

ONWR secretary-general Somkiat Prachamwong said that as the government is currently promoting industrial investment in the three EEC provinces – Chon Buri, Rayong, and Chachoengsao – water demand in the region is expected to rise drastically. He was speaking in Rayong on Friday at an orientation event of the Eastern Region’s water resources development and management project.

 

He said his office has to carefully plan water resource management beforehand to prevent shortages and conflicts over limited resources in the future.

 

“As we are trying to prepare the water management plan to cope with rising water demand after the EEC is fully developed, we have to first understand the nature of water usage for all activities in the region,” Somkiat said.

 

“In order to do so, we have to prepare a water account, which will list all the available water sources, the water users in the region, and their demand, so as to let us get a big picture of water demand and supply in the region and allow us to properly develop a strategic water management system for the EEC.”

 

Therefore, he said all water users in EEC provinces have to register their water demand, so that the ONWR and related agencies can accurately allocate water for each area and also estimate properly the water demand growth in the region.

 

“Those who register in the water account are guaranteed sufficient water supply for consumption. We are also studying water usage quota for each economic activity such as industry, agriculture, and domestic water consumption to make sure that there will be enough water for everyone,” he said.

 

According to the preliminary study of water demand and supply in the Eastern Region and the three EEC provinces by ONWR, it was found that total water supply in the whole Eastern Region was around 2.936 billion cubic metres, while water supply in the three EEC provinces was 1.682 billion cubic metres.

 

However, it was found that demand for water consumption requirement for all economic activities in the entire Eastern Region was 3.833 billion cubic metres, while in the three EEC provinces the demand was 1.984 billion cubic metres.

 

 

From the figures, it can be seen that that there is a mismatch of demand and supply, Somkiat said, warning that unless there were efficient irrigation systems in place, the entire region could suffer serious water shortage, especially in the next 20 years.

 

The ONWR study also estimated that water demand in the three EEC provinces would rise to around 2.242 billion cubic metres by 2027.

 

“From the study, we expect that with the growth of the industrial sector in the EEC, demand from industry will increase to up to 680 million cubic metres. However, water supply is limited in the core EEC areas, so we have to look beyond these areas and divert excess water resources from other water basins to meet the EEC’s growing water demand,” Somkiat said.

 

He informed that in order to generate more water supply for the industrial development and urban expansion in EEC, ONWR has planned many new irrigation projects in EEC provinces and nearby provinces for instance reservoir enlargement, water diversion pipeline network expansion, and construction of four new reservoirs in Chantaburi.

 

 

As more water is diverted into EEC areas from other water basins, he assured water users, especially farmers, in the local area will be the first to get water for irrigation and only if there is excess after local consumption will the supply be diverted to EEC areas.

 

Thinnakorn Suthin, director of the Pasae Water Diversion Project and Maintenance, also highlighted that there were clear procedures for water diversion across the different water basins, as for instance the water could not be diverted from Pasae Reservoir to Nong Plalai Reserviors and then to Bang Phra Reservoir, unless the water in the destination reservoirs are lower than the source reservoirs.

 

Apart from new irrigation projects and water diversion, Somkiat said the ONWR is coordinating with Groundwater Resources Department to tap more groundwater to meet the EEC’s demands. 

 

He said the three EEC provinces still have potential to pump an additional 1.187 billion cubic metres of groundwater per year from the current groundwater use of 1.31 billion cubic metres per year.

 

Meanwhile, he also pointed out that the industrial sector in the EEC is also encouraged to reuse water and desalinated seawater to lower the demand for water.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30358810

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-19

[Srikcir]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

“As we are trying to prepare the water management plan to cope with rising water demand after the EEC is fully developed, we have to first understand the nature of water usage for all activities in the region,”

Sorry but the proverbial horse has already left the barn.
Prayut established the EEC with Article 44 to bypass any inconvenient and delaying environmental reviews. He ignored local officials concerns for adequate infrastructure to support the massive development.

Prayut has already put EEC out for bid and now has Japanese and likely Chinese investment commitments for major industrial projects.

The so-called water management plan will be nothing more than fitting (again a proverbial) round peg in a square hole, albeit at the cost of the farming industry in the area that will not benefit from the EEC.

[Dtaw]

Just please, no new dams.

[DrTuner]

I hope the farangs around Mabprachan built their McVillas on stilts. "Water Management" coming right up, usually means a couple of meters of flood water.

[mok199]

It mabey too late but we always have room for a seafood buffet a piechart and envelopes for all...''whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting over''

[Eric Loh]

Desalination plants may provide solutions to weather dependent water resources. The proximity to the sea make this a possibility. Desalination plants in Singapore provide 30% of the population. 

[Cake Monster]

The village where I reside within the EEC has had water problems for many years now.

There is not enough water to supply the current users from the local Reservoir, and what water there is is intermittent in delivery via the pipe network, and at best the quality can only be described as dire.

Local business,s and residents alike have to buy in water from artesian bore hole sources at a ridiculus raate ( 100 Baht per Unit ).

The Authorities dont need to cnduct a survey, they just need to get off their fat A@#$s and go look for themselves.

As a pemium requisit for a business, water is in short supply across the EEC, and investors need to be aware.

 

[zzaa09]

Beware of the looming resource wars.....

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

As a pemium requisit for a business, water is in short supply across the EEC, and investors need to be aware.

Nov. 2, 2018:

Even without rapid investment in EEC, core provinces such as Chon Buri and Rayong are already suffering shortages.

Experts have been expressing concerns that the rising demand for water in the three EEC provinces – Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao – will lead to conflicts and confrontations over limited resources. They also have warned that the conflicts might spill over to nearby provinces, as the Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO) seeks more water resources.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30357706

Prayut's use of Article 44 to establish the EEC should have been a warning to investors that economic risk as a minimum in the EEC remains unquantified.

[Cake Monster]

21 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Beware of the looming resource wars.....

I am not sure that there will be " Resource Wars " as you put it. However Investors into the EEC ethos will soon come to realise that their money will not earn them as much as they anticipated due to incredibly high overheads. ( Water being only one )

My wife said some years ago that a new Water Pipeline was to be run through the Chonburi region to supply Pattaya alone, and regions / villages along its route were also to benefit. I do not know where the water for this is to be sourced, but to date, I have seen no Infrastructure to say that this pipeline will even happen.

The wole EEC developement will surely come back to bite the Thai Government in the rear end, due to the poor infrastucture (which will surely will have been promised to be upgraded as a matterof urgency to potential Investment Companies. ). And by poor Infrastucture, I just dont mean the supply of water, there are other issues such as Internet, really poor access to Ports and Airports via road, and not least a poor Electric distribution service 

 

 

 

 

[zzaa09]

Or.....how about old school self-sufficiency.

Collect and harbour one's own rain water - which is still practiced in numbers, surprisingly. 

 

Needn't be reliant and dependent on the Govt/Corp/Mafia systems of overlord.