Water In Rivers Receding, Isaan Prepares For Oncoming Drought

[Jai Dee]

WATER IN MOON AND CHEE RIVERS IS RECEDING, AND NORTHEASTERN PROVINCES ARMED FOR ONCOMING DROUGHT

The water level in Moon (มูล) river and Chee (ชี) river is rapidly declining, and this has prompted many provinces in the northeastern region to prepare earlier this year for the oncoming drought.

Some 100 families in Khu_muang (คูเมือง) district in Buriram are now without proper water supply after their usual water source used for making tapwater dried up. They now have to cue up to get water from small wells that have been dug out in the rice paddies, while some had to buy water at prices as high as 250 baht per barrel from water trucks that come to sell water at their village.

In the meantime officials in Ubonratchathani have found that the two rivers in the province are having their water levels reduced rapidly. A provincial coordination center for handling the drought has already been established, and an approval to use 50 million baht of emergency budget will be sought.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 31 January 2006

[chownah]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

[raslin]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

Of course, but with the very low rainfall in many places there are going to be very bad problems. All the village ponds round our way (T. Sawai) are normally full at this time of the year but now they are only less than half full as a lot of water was taken for rice irrigation.

Look like I'll have to give up water and satick to Chang.

Roger, Khok Muang

[chownah]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

Of course, but with the very low rainfall in many places there are going to be very bad problems. All the village ponds round our way (T. Sawai) are normally full at this time of the year but now they are only less than half full as a lot of water was taken for rice irrigation.

Look like I'll have to give up water and satick to Chang.

Roger, Khok Muang

If the ponds are low because water was taken out for rice cultivation then this in itself does not consitute a "drought". It simply means that water was used one way instead of another. I don't actually know if there is a drought coming or not but it seems to me that whenever there is not enough water to do what everyone wants to do the gov't calls it a drought. It could be that the gov't is not handling the water efficiently or effectively....or that people think that if they use up all the water resource and there is none left then this is a drought. I want to be clear, I do not know if there is a drought happening or not....it just seems to me that the "drought" word pops up constantly and is perhaps not being used appropriately.

[phibunmike]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

Of course, but with the very low rainfall in many places there are going to be very bad problems. All the village ponds round our way (T. Sawai) are normally full at this time of the year but now they are only less than half full as a lot of water was taken for rice irrigation.

Look like I'll have to give up water and satick to Chang.

Roger, Khok Muang

If the ponds are low because water was taken out for rice cultivation then this in itself does not consitute a "drought". It simply means that water was used one way instead of another. I don't actually know if there is a drought coming or not but it seems to me that whenever there is not enough water to do what everyone wants to do the gov't calls it a drought. It could be that the gov't is not handling the water efficiently or effectively....or that people think that if they use up all the water resource and there is none left then this is a drought. I want to be clear, I do not know if there is a drought happening or not....it just seems to me that the "drought" word pops up constantly and is perhaps not being used appropriately.

My pond is low now but that is normal for this time of the year. I am near the Mun, and although it does get very low at this time of the year, it also seems to fluctuate quite wildly sometimes - neighbours say this is because of the dam downstream (Pak Mun) being opened and closed, which seems plausible.

I want to buy water from the nearby aqueduct but there is a queue at the moment, with some other areas having their turn - so my pond continues to drop....

[ShingDam]

I fully agree with chownah !

If I compare the weather conditions, with last year ones we are far away from a drought. Not one drop rain over 5 month till in 3 weeks (I speak about last year).

Its more a management problem or the last year drought reaches till now (because i noticed that the raintime wasnt really one).

I am not so far from Buriram, and here the people are used to make rice 2 times a year. But last year it was impossible because of the drought, and this year only some people risk it (included my father in law).

Shing Dam

[blue eyes]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

Of course, but with the very low rainfall in many places there are going to be very bad problems. All the village ponds round our way (T. Sawai) are normally full at this time of the year but now they are only less than half full as a lot of water was taken for rice irrigation.

Look like I'll have to give up water and satick to Chang.

Roger, Khok Muang

If the ponds are low because water was taken out for rice cultivation then this in itself does not consitute a "drought". It simply means that water was used one way instead of another. I don't actually know if there is a drought coming or not but it seems to me that whenever there is not enough water to do what everyone wants to do the gov't calls it a drought. It could be that the gov't is not handling the water efficiently or effectively....or that people think that if they use up all the water resource and there is none left then this is a drought. I want to be clear, I do not know if there is a drought happening or not....it just seems to me that the "drought" word pops up constantly and is perhaps not being used appropriately.

Let us look at the definition of drought............1. A prolonged period of dry weather;lack of rain 2. A prolonged or serious shortage or deficiency 3.Thirst!!!!!!!!I do not know for sure if we will have another drought this year or not but............If we have to buy trucked in water I belive that it is a drought---Real or Artificial it has the same ending ..We have to pay to get nam!!!!!!!!

[chownah]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

Of course, but with the very low rainfall in many places there are going to be very bad problems. All the village ponds round our way (T. Sawai) are normally full at this time of the year but now they are only less than half full as a lot of water was taken for rice irrigation.

Look like I'll have to give up water and satick to Chang.

Roger, Khok Muang

If the ponds are low because water was taken out for rice cultivation then this in itself does not consitute a "drought". It simply means that water was used one way instead of another. I don't actually know if there is a drought coming or not but it seems to me that whenever there is not enough water to do what everyone wants to do the gov't calls it a drought. It could be that the gov't is not handling the water efficiently or effectively....or that people think that if they use up all the water resource and there is none left then this is a drought. I want to be clear, I do not know if there is a drought happening or not....it just seems to me that the "drought" word pops up constantly and is perhaps not being used appropriately.

Let us look at the definition of drought............1. A prolonged period of dry weather;lack of rain 2. A prolonged or serious shortage or deficiency 3.Thirst!!!!!!!!I do not know for sure if we will have another drought this year or not but............If we have to buy trucked in water I belive that it is a drought---Real or Artificial it has the same ending ..We have to pay to get nam!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the definition. Perhaps I have been too narrowly interpreting the term "drought". If "drought" can mean any prolonged period of dry weather then I guess they have a "drought" every year in Isaan....and up in the north we have had a "drought" that has lasted for about a month now....no rain in a month. My thinking is that when most people read the word "drought", they think that is is an unusually severe prolonged period of dry weather....something that happens occasionally but not regularly.....perhaps I'm wrong in thinking this....maybe this is an American reaction to the word "drought" and people raised in other cultures use it differently. If I didn't think that polls were absurd I'd probably start one to find out.

[Jai Dee]

Sakon Nakhon has been hit with drought, and 180,000 people are already affected

The drought has hit Sakon Nakhon Province, with latest reports indicating that 809 villages in 18 districts area have already been affected.

After facing a bitter cold season, a drought now approaches the province of Sakon Nakhon. Damages have already been reported from 10 districts, while 180,000 people in 18 districts are now affected by the calamity.

The provincial administration is preparing to dissipate 500,000 baht of budget into each district to address the problem.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office in the province has already inspected the site in Muang District. The site will be used to build a water container, to help alleviate the crisis.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 03 Febuary 2006

[plachon]

Don't the river levels go down every year? Isn't this normal in Isaan? Isn't this called the "dry season"? Is calling this a "drought" just the prelude to some activity that will line some politicians' pockets?

Of course, but with the very low rainfall in many places there are going to be very bad problems. All the village ponds round our way (T. Sawai) are normally full at this time of the year but now they are only less than half full as a lot of water was taken for rice irrigation.

Look like I'll have to give up water and satick to Chang.

Roger, Khok Muang

If the ponds are low because water was taken out for rice cultivation then this in itself does not consitute a "drought". It simply means that water was used one way instead of another. I don't actually know if there is a drought coming or not but it seems to me that whenever there is not enough water to do what everyone wants to do the gov't calls it a drought. It could be that the gov't is not handling the water efficiently or effectively....or that people think that if they use up all the water resource and there is none left then this is a drought. I want to be clear, I do not know if there is a drought happening or not....it just seems to me that the "drought" word pops up constantly and is perhaps not being used appropriately.

Chownah, you're scepticism about whether we really are in a "drought" situation or not is warranted. Sure there are pockets of water shortage and locally that can be called a "drought", but this year in Isaan there is not yet a drought overall, at least not in the normal sense of the word. The rains finished in late October, which is quite normal, and there hasn't been any rain to speak of since then, which again is quite normal, so all in all weatherwise it is a quite normal dry season. nothing out of the ordinary unlike last year when the rains stopped in mid-Sept 04 and didn't fall again in decent amounts til late April 05.

Southern Isaan especially was badly hit by last year's drought which was compounded by poor rains through the dry season, so that groundwater and reservoirs were not able to adequately recharge and fill. So, the Mun basin can be expected to be drier than average this dry season, as a result of a compounding effect from last year. But conversely, northern Isaan had a better than average rainy season in 05 and the rivers have gone down normally, while the groundwater situation is better than average I would say.

But as you well know there is a political motivation to declare a "drought" at an early stage of the dry season, and not expect anyone to contradict the verdict, as it means govt. funding can be leveraged for your turf to "fight the drought". This means more dams and earth moving which keeps the political body oiled and big thirsts saked, until it's the rainy season and the river bursts its banks as it always used to, and you can call another crisis fund up by shouting "floods". Meanwhile the dams and embankments cure neither condition, but frequently, as in the case of the Mun, aggravate the very thing it set out to "solve". A village right next to a river or reservoir, with no means to access that water, is technically in a "drought" situation, even though water is plentiful. This is rarely if ever considered, so the pollies usually get there way, and right now there's 200 billion baht up for grabs for Water projects, the more mega the better.